
Qass. 
Book. 



E2.fG 



The Provincial jc 
Committees of Safety 

of the 
American Revolution 



BY 

AGNES HUNT, Ph.D. 

Associate Professor of History, Wells College 

Formerly Instructor in History, College for Women 

Western Reserve Unit'ersity 



Published from the Income of 

The Francis G. Butler Publication Fund 

western reserve university 

cleveland 



OF WINN & JUDSON, 
1904 



x^ 



,o-a 



v\--/ 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Chapter I— The New England Colonies 6 

II -The Middle Colonies 62 

" III — The Southern Colonies no 

" IV— General View of the Character and Work of the 

Committees of Safet}- y^- • ■ ^5^ 

" \^ — Origin of the Committees of Safety 158 

Bibliography 172 

Table of the Powers of the Committees of Safety 181 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



n 



N the following study of the Committees of 
Safety the interest of the historical student 
rather than that of the general reader has been kept 
in view. The object has been to present in some 
detail an account of the activity of these revolu- 
tionary executives in the separate states, in order 
that the student of the individual commonwealths, 
as well as those interested in the Revolution as a 
whole may find, ready to hand, the essence of a 
mass of original material. It is hoped, however, 
that the battles which these Committees fought 
behind the scenes with poverty, inertia, discourage- 
ment and fear, may not prove uninteresting to any 
lover of American Historv. 



THE 
PROVINCIAL COMMITTEES OF SAFETY 

IN THE 

AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



CHAPTER T— NEW ENGLAND. 



1 . Massachusetts. 



When the American colonists laid by the petition for 
the musket, prepared to put their strength to the .test in de- 
fense of their rights, the machinery of the English colonial 
governments was hampered, and at length rendered helpless 
by the withdrawal of popular support. That government 
rested on the supremacy of England over her dependencies, 
enforced by governors and other royal officials, but workable 
only with the co-operation of the colonists in their assemblies. 
When discontent rose to rebellion, the government, compris- 
ing two irreconcilable elements in the governors and assem- 
blies, came of necessity to a standstill. The executive at- 
tempted to silence the insurrection by dissolving the 
assemblies, but the people found other channels of expres- 
sion. Representatives to provincial conventions were elected 
and gradually assumed entire control. 

These conventions served the purpose of deliberative 
and legislative bodies as well as the former assemblies, but 
it was difficult for them to perform executive duties on ac- 
count of their size. Moreover it was impossible to keep such 
large bodies continually in session, and in the frequent re- 
cesses and the intervals between a dissolution and the meet- 
ing of a new congress there was need of some system by 
which the government could be carried on without interrup- 



lo American Committees of Safety, } 

i 

tion. It was to meet these wants that the conventions ap- 
pointed Committees of Safety during the earHer years of the j 
Revohition. They served as the chief executive of the prov- \ 
ince in the transition period from colonial to state govern- \ 
ment. | 

Opposition culminated early in Massachusetts and that i 
province was the first to choose a Committee of Safety. The \ 
spirit of resistance ran high in Boston in the fall of 1774. 
The white tents of the British on the Common, the cannon ■ 
that Gage had planted to command the town, the fleet riding ; 
in the harbor, brought no thought of submission to the peo- : 
pie ; rather they were used as effective illustrations by their ■ 
leaders to point the wTongs of the colonists and the tyranny " 
of England. A martial spirit had sprung up ; the people i 
brought together arms and ammunition and drilled in small j 
companies. The situation was discussed in club, convention ' 
and committee, and acceptance of armed resistance if nee- I 
essary was the common outcome of their deliberations. ! 

Alarmed at the firmness displayed by the people and 
their preparations for defense. Gage felt it unsafe to allow 
the General Court to meet and issued a proclamation dis- 
charging the members from attendance. But the colonists 
refused to be denied expression at this critical moment. 
Ninety of the delegates assembled at the time appointed for 
the Assembly, October 5, 1774, and finding the Governor un- 
willing to recognize them, formed themselves into a Provin- 
cial Congress.' A committee w^as chosen October 20, to con- 
sider what was necessary for the safety and defense of the 
Province' and their report was given and accepted ^ on the 
twenty-sixth. 

The Committee reviewed the grievances of the colonies, 
and while it denied somewhat too strenuously that the people 
had the most distant idea of attacking or molesting the 
King's troops in any w^ay, it was held that the necessity of 

^ Journals of the Mass. Prov. Cong, p 7. 
2 Ibid, p 23. 



New England. ii 

providing against possible contingencies dictated the follow- 
ing measures: first, the appointment of a Committee of 
Safety to continue in office until further order, whose duty 
it was to be to keep careful watch of any person attempting 
''the destruction, invasion, detriment, or annoyance of the 
province." The Committee or any five of its number (pro- 
viding not more than one was a citizen of Boston) were 
authorized, whenever they judged the safety of the people 
required, to call out the militia to such places as they thought 
fit, to see that the men were well armed, equipped and pro- 
visioned and to keep them in service as long as necessary. 
All ofi^cers and soldiers were earnestly requested to give 
obedience to the commands of the Committee ; second, the 
appointment of a Committee of Supplies to make pro- 
visions for the reception and support of the troops if 
called out, and to purchase without delay, for the Col- 
ony, cannon, small arms and ammunition; third, the 
appointment of general officers to command the forces. 
The militia were recommended to choose company offi- 
cers and to enlist minute-men ready to march at the first 
call of the Committee of Safety. The inhabitants were 
urged to perfect themselves in military discipline and to pro- 
vide arms and powder." 

These proposals spoke plainly of war. The Congress 
foresaw its probability and was determined to meet it well 
prepared. It was left with the Committee of Safety to take 
the decisive step of calling the troops into the field and of 
turning the struggle from passive resistance to civil war. 
Like a sentinel it was to watch the approach of the enemy 
and give the signal for attack. 

The Committee was chosen on October 27, 1774, and 
was composed of nine members, three from Boston and six 
from the country districts.' It existed until February 9, 
1775, when a new Committee of Safety was chosen of eleven 

' Journals of the Mass. Prov. Cong, pp 32, 33, 35. 
* Ibid, p 35. 



12 American Committees oj Safety. 

members, most of them, however, identical with those of the 
first appointment. As time passed and the situation became 
more critical the Provincial Congress realized the danger of 
leaving entirely to the Committee of Safety the decision of 
the grounds and time for resistance. In this second appoint- 
ment therefore the Committee was authorized to call out the 
militia only if an attempt were made to execute by force the 
two laws, ''for the Better Government of Massachusetts," 
and "for the Impartial Administration of Justice.'" Even as 
thus limited the discretionary power of the Committee w^as 
large. What constituted a forcible attempt to carry out the 
laws might be open to dispute, and the Committee might 
give the signal on too slight occasion. The support of the 
other colonies was not assured, while weighed w^ith England 
in numbers, resources and military skill, Massachusetts 
hung but lightly in the balance. The thought that the Com- 
mittee, in its confidence and enthusiasm, might force the 
conflict prematurely, made the more thoughtful afraid of 
its power. Joseph Hawley, a member of the Provincial 
Congress, wrote from Northampton on February 22, 1775, 
'T have been most seriously contemplating the commission 
and most important trust of our Committee of Safety, and 
especially that branch of it which relates to their mustering 

the minute-men, and others of the militia the soldiers 

when thus mustered will suppose it their duty to fight 

they will suppose the continent to have devolved 

the resolution of that question upon this province, and that 
this province has devolved it on the Committee of Safety 
and that the Committee by calling them, have decided it. 

Thus hostilities will be commenced ...... I beg of 

you therefore, as you love your country, to use your utmost 
influence with our Committee of Safety that the people be 
not mustered, and hostilities be not commenced, until we 
have the express categorical decision of the continent, that 
the time is absolutely come that hostilities ought to com- 

= Journals of the Mass. Prov. Cong, p 90. 



New England. 13 

mence."" Events, however, demanded positive action of 
Massachusetts too soon to obtain such united assent. 

The Committee of Safety came together for the first 
time November 7, 1774. There seems to have been no 
doubt in the minds of the members from the first that the 
outcome of events was to be war. The first day the Com- 
mittee of Supplies was recommended to buy large amounts 
of pork, flour, rice and other provisions, and store them at 
Worcester and Concord.^ In the following week, spades, 
shovels, mess-bowls, fuses, cannon and ball were collected 
and deposited at the two places. On February 23, 1775, the 
Committee ordered the officers to assemble one-fourth of 
the militia, not for a general muster, but in order that the 
troops might meet for drill throughout the Province.^ 

Afraid that Gage would attempt to capture the war 
stores that had been collected^ the Committee appointed 
watches on March fourteenth and fifteenth, to guard them. 
Teams were kept in readiness to remove them and couriers 
provided to alarm the towns on the first news of a hostile 
movement of the British." 

On the eighteenth of April the Committee of Safety 
was in session at a tavern in Menotomy (now Arlington). 
After the sitting, two of the members, Mr. Devens and Mr. 
Watson, left the others to go to Charlestown, but meeting 
an unusual number of British ofiicers on the road, turned 
back to alarm their comrades. Later in the evening Devens 
received certain information that the enemy were in motion, 
and went at once to warn Gerry, Hancock, and Adams. He 
then started Paul Revere on his ride to Lexington and Con- 
cord. Through his efforts and those of the other couriers 
employed by the Committee, Gage's secret was the property 
of the country side before morning.'" 

' Joseph Hawley to Thomas dishing : Journals of the Mass. Prov. 
Cong, p 748. 

■ During the first months the Committee of Safety and Committee of 
Supplies sat together. Journals of the Mass. Prov. Cong., p. 505. 

* Journals of the Mass. Prov. p 510. Frothingham's Warren p 420. 

* Journals of the Mass. Prov. Cong, p 513. 

*« Narrative of Richard Devens, quoted in Frothlngham's Siege of 
Boston p 57 . 



14 American Committees of Safety. 

The battle of Lexington marks the opening of the war 
and the Committee of Safety bent its energies to raise 
forces and concentrate them around Boston as rapidly as 
possible. The Provincial Congress was not in session and 
responsibility in the crisis rested with the Committee. On 
the day after the battle a circular letter was sent to the dif- 
ferent Massachusetts towns, telling the news, and setting 
forth in the strongest terms the need of an army, and beg- 
ging them to encourage the enlistment of soldiers and to 
send them forward to Cambridge." They determined to raise 
eight thousand capable men from the Massachusetts forces, 
to organize them into regiments and place them under 
proper discipline. In this way, it was hoped, the nucleus 
of an efficient army would be formed." Troops were asked 
from Connecticut and Rhode Island, and the New Hamp- 
shire men in the Province were enlisted in the Massachu- 
setts regiments. 

The Provincial Congress met on the twenty-second of 
April and took general control of affairs, sending for the 
Committee of Safety to report on the situation and to pre- 
sent whatever plans it had in readiness." Throughout the 1 
session the Committee made frequent suggestions to the | 
legislature and its advice was usually adopted. Occasion- ! 
ally the Congress referred matters to the Committee for I 
consideration, asking it, for example, to form a plan for i 
the establishment of the army, to decide on the expediency 
of removing war stores from the coast, or to report on the I 
advisability of a further issue of paper money.'* As the | 
Congress sat usually at Watertown and the Committee ' 
at Cambridge, where the troops were collecting, much trou- • 
ble and loss of time was involved in carrying messages be- i 
tv/een the two places, and the Committee was often too ! 
busy to attend to the questions of the Congress until the j 

" Journals of the Mass. Prov. Cong, p 518. The Provincial Con- ! 

gress adjourned April 15, 1775 and reopened April 22. 1 

" Ibid, p 520. I 

" Journals of the Mass. Prov. Cong, p 148. i 

'* Ibid, pp 148, 210, 464, 588. j 



New England. 15 

second or even the third request. That, in spite of diffi- 
culties, the Congress took pains to consult it is evidence of 
the reliance placed on its judo-ment and its position of 
leadership. "" 

In the weeks following the battle of Lexington an 
army was gathered. The Committee issued enlistment or- 
ders, assigned to the towns the quota of men they were to 
raise, and ordered them to be ready to move at a moment's 
notice, or to march at once to Cainbridge. The Committee 
saw that cannon and entrenching tools were collected and 
repaired. All was made ready for the siege of Boston. The 
Selectmen and Committee of Correspondence of Chelsea 
were directed to prevent any food from reaching the city 
and the Committee of Safety granted or denied permission 
to enter it."' The Committee did not give attention to 
Massachusetts alone. Benedict Arnold laid before it 
a plan for taking Ticonderoga, and it furnished him 
with powder, ball, flints, and horses. The expedition was 
sent under its authority and x\rnold was directed to draw 
on it for expenses.'' 

On May 19, 1775, the Committee received fresh powers, 
as it was felt the change in times rendered its former 
authority inadequate. Its new commission authorized 
it to call out the militia whenever, and for as long as 
it saw fit, and to station them where it thought best. 
All officers were required to give the Committee obedience. 
Any command of the Committee of Safety was, however, 
subject to the control of the Provincial Congress. The 
Committee was to recommend for commissions to the Con- 
gress those officers whose regiments were fully or nearly 
completed, but in the recess of Congress the Committee 
might give the commissions itself.''. The Committee of 
Safety was thus made Commander-in-Chief of the provin- 

^^ Journals of the Mass. Prov. Cong, p 173. 

i« Journals of the Mass. Prov. Cona:. pp 520, 521, 525, 52G, 528, 529, 
533, 540, 548, etc. 

" Ibid, pp 531, 534. 

>« Journals of the Mass. Cong, pp 241, 242. 



1 6 American CommHtees of Safety. 

cial troops, subject, however, to the control of the legisla- 
ture. In consequence of this limitation, the natural fruit 
01 long colonial distrust of executive authority, the Com- 
mittee was careful to consult with the Congress before tak- 
ing steps of importance, and thus its freedom of initiative 
was unfortunately checked to a considerable degree. 

The Committee showed itself ready to consult with the 
officers, whose knowledge might be more direct than its 
own, and to accept their advice. For instance, the Council 
of War having decided that two thousand men were neces- 
sary to reinforce the army at Roxbury, the Committee of 
Safety at once issued orders to the militia officers of the 
neighboring towns to march to that place. Again, repre- 
sentatives of the Committee deliberated with the Council of 
War and some of the general officers on the question of 
securing Bunker Hill and Dorchester Neck.'" But though 
willing to consult with the army the Committee was as 
punctilious as a Long Parliament in upholding the ultimate 
superiority of the civil over the military power. For ex- 
ample, the Provincial Congress directed the Committee of 
Safety to deliver the small arms to those officers who should 
present orders for them from General Ward. Thereupon 
General Ward issued an order to the Committee to deliver 
the arms to those offi.cers that made application for them. 
The Committee at once objected. Ward might order his 
officers to come for the arms ; he had no right to order the 
Committee to deliver them. That power rested only with 
the Provincial Congress. It was a matter of vast impor- 
tance, the Committee held, that no orders should be issued 
by the m.ilitary to the civil power. Nevertheless at this mo- 
ment public peril was felt to outweigh constitutional prin- 
ciple, and the Committee, in good Anglo-Saxon manner, 
having by protest prevented the establishment of a danger- 
ous precedent, consented to give out the arms.'" 

'» Journals of the Mass. Prov. Congress pp 540, 568. 
2« Journals of the Mass. Prov. Cong, p 580. 



New England. 17 

^^ After the first months the Committee of Safety and the 
Committee of SuppHes acted as separate and independent 
bodies ; an uneconomical arrangement, since the Committee 
of Safety, as commander of the troops was in the best posi- 
tion to know what quantities of food, clothing and other 
supplies were needed, and where they could be used to the 
best advantage. Instead the Committee of Supplies acted 
on its own initiative and the Committee of Safety could do 
no more than occasionally recommend measures to its no- 
tice. In the other colonies the Committee of Supplies was 
generally subject to the Committee of Safety or the latter 
was given its duties as part of its own commission. 

The trial of suspected Tories lay properly outside the 
powers of the Committee, and it disliked to deal with them 
for this reason, referring the cases if possible to the Pro- 
vincial Congress and recommending the appointment of a 
special court of inquiry.'^ The Committee was exceedingly 
careful not to go beyond its commission for any reason 
and constantly refused to touch matters not expressly dele- 
gated to it, except in case of necessity, while constantly 
recommending measures to the Congress that seemed ad- 
visable. The commission of the Committee gave it 
no general discretionary power to act for the public 
good. In one respect, however, it was more free than the 
Committees in some of the other colonies. Unless directed 
to do so in acting on some special resolution of the Congress 
it was not obliged to submit its proceedings to that body. 
July 13, 1775, the last Committee of Safety of ^Massachusetts 
was appointed. The Colony had decided to go back as near- 
ly as possible to its charter government, to call an assembly 
and to elect from this body a number of councillors. The 
Provincial Congress provided for the election of the new leg- 
islature, chose a new Committee of Safety to act in the inter- 
val before the assembly met and disbanded. The Commit- 
tee's former commission was abrogated and the new Com- 

" Journals of the Mass. Prov. Congress p 202, 263. 



1 8 American Committees of Safety, 

mittee given full power, until the thirteenth of July or until 
the Assembly took away its authority to assemble or dis- 
charge the militia on application of the Commander-in-Chief 
of the Continental Army or at its own discretion. The 
power of directing the forces was no longer given to it, 
but to the continental commander. The Committee was to 
procure and employ all such armorers and artificers as 
were needed by the troops, and to execute all duties given 
the former Committee by particular resolves of the Congress. 
It was to provide for the poor of Boston and Charles- 
town and if possible to prevent infection from small-pox be- 
ing communicated by persons from the former town. The 
trial and disposal of prisoners of war and Tories was at this 
time definitely assigned to the Committee. It was also 
directed to care for any interests not otherwise provided 
for, thus being given a freer hand than formerly to provide 
for the general welfare. If necessary it might reassem- 
ble the Provincial Congress before the Assembly met." 

The journal of this Committee of Safety has been lost. 
Its life was brief, as the new House of Representatives met 
July 19, 1775. Then, without being formally dissolved, the 
Committee ceased to act, its place being taken partly by the 
Councillors, partly by different committees appointed by 
the legislature."^ 

='■-' Journals of the Mass. Prov. Cong, pp 498, 499. 

'^'^ American Archives, 4th Series, Vol. II. p 277 et seq. 



New England, i9 



2. New Hampshire. 



New Hampshire was left in a more difficult position 
than Massachusetts, when it abandoned the royal govern- 
ment, since it had no well-known charter which it could 
revive and utilize. Instead, it was obliged to feel its way 
tentatively toward a permanent constitution, and temporary 
expedients were employed longer. The last assembly of 
the old regime met in July, 1775. It adjourned to Septem- 
ber, but was prorogued by the Governor until the following 
April. The Revolution had then risen too high to be op- 
posed. Governor Wentworth was a fugitive and a Pro- 
vincial Congress was assuming the direction of afifairs. 

On May 20, 1775, this body passed resolutions stating 
the necessity of raising two thousand militia and appointing 
five men a Committee of Safety. A Committee of Supplies 
was chosen at the same time, as in Massachusetts, and the 
instruction of both deferred until the next week.' 

On May 26, the following commission was given the 
Committee of Safety. It was empowered and directed 
in the recess of the Provincial Congress to take into con-' 
sideration all matters in which the welfare of the Province 
in the security of its rights was concerned except the ap- 
pointment of field officers, and to take the utmost care that 
the public sustained no harm. It was to carry out 
in whatever way it saw fit, those plans which the Con- 
gress had not intrusted to others ; if any exigency required 
immediate attention, such as marching troops to repel an 
invasion, or directing the movements of the militia, either 
within or without the Province, or making use of any spe- 
cial opportunity for securing military stores or important 
posts, or preventing them from falling into the enemy's 

1 N. H. Provincial Papers, VII. p 477, 478. 



20 American Committees of Safety, 

hands, the Committee was to take the most prudent and 
effectual methods to accompHsh these or similar results. 
It was empowered to apply to the Committee of Sup- 
plies for the necessary stores, provisions, etc." It was 
thus an executive body for the Colony with large 
discretionary powers. As Belknap says, its charge re- 
calls that given the Roman dictators, "Ne quid detrementi 
republica capiat.'" It lacks definiteness as compared with 
the instructions of the Massachusetts Committee which was 
formed for the specific purpose of raising and equipping 
the militia and giving the signal for attack. 

The general powers of the New Hampshire Committee 
were supplemented by special duties delegated to it from 
time to time, by the Provincial Congress. The Committee 
interpreted its authority broadly, and did not hesitate to take 
the initiative in measures which the welfare of the Province 
seemed to demand. It was appointed anew by each Con- 
gress or by the Council and House of Representatives after 
the constitution of 1776 went into effect, and existed until 
May 29,1784. Then the war being over and an executive 
provided by the new constitution of that year, the needs 
which had called the Committee into existence disappeared. 
The powers conferred on each Committee were practically 
the same, so that it came to assume the character of an in- 
stitution. 

The Provincial Congress consisted of a single cham- 
ber, with no separate executive, and during the year 1775 
the Committee of Safety supplied the deficiency, serving 
also as a representative of the Congress in its recess. In 
January, 1776, the Provincial Congress resolved itself into 
a House of Representatives, and a Council of twelve was ap- 
pointed, which in turn chose a president to act as its pre- 
siding officer. The Council, however, adjourned and dis- 
solved at the same time as the lower house, and Committees 

2 ]v. H. Provincial Papers, VII. 485. 

' Belknap's History of New Hampshire II. 395. 



New England, 21 

of Safety were appointed to carry on the government in 
these interims during the years from 1776 to 1778. From 
1779 on, while the Committees continued to perform this 
function, the press of executive duties compelled them to 
hold sessions coincident with those of the Assembly so that 
they were practically a permanent body during this time. 
The Committee was most active from 1775- 1783. After 
that date it was chiefly engaged in settling claims against 
the State, and had sunk in importance. 

The commissions granted the different Committees of 
Safety at the time of their appointment were brief and in- 
definite. It was stated that they were to transact the busi- 
ness of the legislature in its recess and to have such powers 
as previous Committees had exercised. Sometimes no em- 
powering clause appears, the duties of such a Committee 
being taken for g^ranted.* The commissions were enlarged, 
however, by resolutions of the legislature, made from time to 
time, outlining particular work. 

In the hands of the Committee was placed the raising 
and maintaining of the troops. It gave out orders to 
enlist soldiers and to make returns, following the same meth- 
ods as Massachusetts, and not hesitating to employ the 
draft.^ It appointed places of rendezvous and directed the 
movements of the militia and sent troops at the request of 
continental officers, to act outside the State. It recom- 
mended field officers and appointed and commissioned other 
officers." It also appointed surgeons and chaplains. The 
troops were discharged on its order.^ This power extended 
to officers as well as men, and on September 4, 1779, we find 
it resolving that all officers, civil or military, who refused the 
oath of fidelity to the State ought not only to be dismissed 
from office but to be incapable of reappointment.-' 

♦ N. H. Provincial Papers, VII. 21, 111, 195, 344, 416, 459, 740, 
etc. 

° Ibid, VII. 484, 496, 578. 

« N. H. Provincial Papers, VII. 505. N. H. State Papers, VIII. 195. 
,^VN. H. Hist. Society Collections VII. 565. 
» Ibd. VII. 213. 



22 American Committees of Safety, 

When the forces joined the Continental Army without 
the State, they passed from the control of the Committee. 
The officers, however, sent reports of the movements of the 
army and applied to it to supply whatever was needed, 
whether officers, men, or war stores. A close connection 
was thus maintained between the army and the Committee. 
Besides enlisting the troops and directing their movements, 
the Committee had charge of the department of supplies. 
A Committee of Supplies was chosen in 1775 and later a 
Board of War to provide ammunition, food and clothing, 
but they were both under the direction of the Committee 
of Safety, who issued orders to them and often obtained 
the necessary supplies by negotiating directly with the local 
committees or with individuals. 

The power lodged in the hands of the Committee of 
Safety was thus extensive, as it held the office of 
commander-in-chief of the forces within the State and con- 
trolled the raising, equipping, supporting and discharging 
of the troops. 

Owing to its distance from the center of conflict the 
Committee labored under a disadvantage in appointing offi- 
cers to fill vacancies in the troops outside the State, not 
knowing what men would be worthy of promotion or ac- 
ceptable to the soldiers. The following cases illustrate the 
difficulty and show the independent attitude of the officers 
toward the civil authority. In the summer of 1775 Colonel 
Reed, who commanded the New Hampshire troops at Win- 
ter Hill, being in want of an adjutant, the Committee of 
Safety appointed a Mr. McGregor for the service. The 
choice was unpopular with the men, who refused to obey 
McGregor's orders, and Reed was obliged to give the place 
to a Captain Peabodv. The Committee of Safety protested 
to Reed, saying that while it would take pleasure in 
gratifying him or any individual, it must insist that its 
appointments stand to avoid endless difficulties. Colonel 

» N. H. Provincial Papers, VII. 557. 



New England. 23 

Reed replied, showing the difficulties in the way of carrying 
out its appointment, and insisted on continuing Peabody 
as adjutant for the sake of harmony in the regiment.'" 

In September of the same year the field officers of the 
troops at Winter Hill wrote the Committee of Safety that va- 
cancies among the officers were of frequent occurrence and 
the method of applying to the provincial government for 
filling them caused not only great trouble and expense, but 
also left the companies in some measure unofficered. They 
therefore requested that the Brigadier-General might be 
supplied with blank commissions for all officers under the 
rank of field officers, that he might fill the vacancies as they 
occurred. The Committee replied that if such a measure 
were authorized by the Provincial Congress it would 
comply without -delay, but this not being the case it would 
continue to make the appointments itself.'^ In March 
of the following year General Sullivan assumed the power 
of selecting officers for a new regiment without consulting 
the Committee, which was naturally displeased at this 
usurpation, but Sullivan wrote in excuse: "Surely by my 
having the choice of Thirty-one set of officers who had been 
under my Immediate inspection I could have a much better 
opportunity of selecting eight good men, than you who were 
not here, and could not know how they behaved. I made 
the choice and the officers have done honor to themselves 
and the province and dififer exceedingly from some of the 
Captains sent here before who could neither sign a Return 
or give a Receipt but my making their Mark.'"' Noth- 
ing further was done in the matter and Sullivan's appoint- 
ments stood. 

Desertion from New Hampshire regiments was not un- 
common when to the uncertainty of the issue was added 
an unsettled pay roll, and the first eagerness of enthusiasm 
had passed. The generals wrote the Committee asking it 

»o N. H. Provincial Papers, VII. 557, 565. 

11 Ibid, VII. 614, 615. 

1=* N. II. State Papers, VIII. 118. 



24 American Committees of Safety. 

to take some measure of prevention and the Provincial Con- 
gress recommended to the local committees to take up and 
secure deserters from the American army and return them 
to their officers/'' The Committee of Safety ordered lists of 
deserters to be published and sent orders to all civil and 
military officers to arrest them." They were sometimes 
brought for trial before the Committee, who examined the 
evidence and punished or liberated them as it saw fit/' 
Occasionally the Committee interfered to call the officers 
to account. In 1776 it summoned Lieutenant Oilman 
before them on a charge of cheating the soldiers out of 
their coat money. He was found guilty, but the Committee 
does not seem to have felt the time warranted the infliction 
of any penalty or hesitated to assume power to inflict it. 
Again in 1779 Colonel Hobart was brought before it on 
the ground of revealing important secrets of the Committee. 
What further steps were taken does not appear.'*' 

The consent of the Committee of Safety was necessary 
before any one could leave the State and special permits 
were issued by it granting this privilege. This restric- 
tion applied not only to individuals, but to ships and their 
cargoes as well, the enforcement of the Non-Exportation 
Act resting in the Committee's hands and all applications 
for clearances being granted by it.'' It assumed the right 
to lay an embargo on the State on its own responsi- 
bility. On June 27, 1779, at the request of Massachusetts, 
such an embargo was ordered, to last until the fleet should 
sail against the British on the Penobscot. July 8 it was con- 
tinued forty days longer.'* 

In the recesses of the Congress the Committee opened 
and answered all public letters, corresponded with commit- 
tees of other States and with the Continental Congress. 

" N. H. Prov. Papers, VII. 554. 

" N. H. Hist. Society Collections VII. 103, 13G, 198, 205, 256. 

" N. H. State Papers, VIII. 314. 

" N. H. Hist. Society Collections, VII. 206. 

" N. H. Hist. Society Collections, VII. 169, 170, 173, 174, 221. 

" Ibid, VII. 192, 193. 



New England. 25 

It wrote often to the New Hampshire delegates in the 
latter body, stating what had been done by the Province, 
asking their approbation or advice and telling its needs. The 
Committee could call the legislature to special session if it 
saw fit and this was done twice, once in 1776 when the Con- 
tinental Congress had made requisitions on the State for 
three battalions to serve during the war, and again in July, 
1777, when the shadow of Burgoyne's invasion hung over 
the Northern States." After the constitution of 1776 went 
into operation it was the duty of the Committee to order 
the choice of new members to the General Court.^" The 
delegates to the conferences and conventions that were 
held by the New England States during the war 
were often appointed for New Hampshire by the Commit- 
tee.'' The establishment of a post for the Province," the 
hindering of engrossing,'' the payment of bounties to manu- 
facturers,^' and similar acts arising from a general responsi- 
bility for the welfare of the State were characteristic of its 
work. 

Its financial powers were important. By a vote of the 
Provincial Congress June 30, 1775^, the Committee of Safety 
alone was authorized to draw orders on the Treasurer or 
Receiver General for all sums of money that had been or 
should be voted for the supply of the forces. The Com- 
mittee was to be accountable to Congress for all money so 
drawn.^' The power thus granted came to be interpreted 
broadly, so that any one having a claim against the State 
in any way must receive an order on the Treasurer through 
the Committee, before he could obtain satisfaction. The 
money for arm.s and food supplies, the expenses for enlist- 
ing soldiers, the pay of officers and troops, the salaries of 
members of the legislature, the charges for the care of pris- 

" N. H. state Papers, VIII. 346, 629. 

•■«' Ibid, VIII. 698. 

21 N. H. Hist. Society Collections, VII. 206, 229, ere. 

" Ibid, VII. 211. 

" Ibid, VII. 140. 

'* Ibid, VII. 197. 

« N. H. Prov. Papers, VII. 544. 



26 American Committees of Safety, 

oners, for posts, etc., all went through its hands. No 
money for any public purpose was drawn without its con- 
sent. The Committee also undertook the supervision of 
some of the State's accounts, examining at times the pay- 
rolls of the troops, and deciding whether they should be 
allowed.'" On June 30, 1775, it granted permission to 
the Committee of Supplies to purchase such articles as 
would not admit of delay, without a previous application to 
the Committee of Safety, but at the same time the Commit- 
tee of Supplies was required to render its accounts once in 
ten days.^^ The Committee of Safety also settled the ac- 
counts of the Board of War.""'" 

The Committee was ordered by the Provincial Congress 
to assist the Receiver General in framing warrants for as- 
sessing and collecting the taxes."' The Committee also di- 
rected the Receiver General to warn the constables and se- 
lectmen who were delinquent in paying that further delay 
would result in the issue of extents against them,'" while the 
pressing need of money for the war led it to issue appeals to 
the selectmen of the towns, explaining the situation, de- 
scribing the difficulties under which the Committee labored 
in dealing with constant demands on an empty treasury, and 
beseeching them to exert themselves to render it possible 
for the State to proceed in its affairs.'' 

The continental tax collected through the State was 
sent to Philadelphia and the continental accounts w'ere 
furnished and forwarded by it.'" The necessity of 
procuring war supplies and the difficulty of getting 
money to pay for them led the Committee to direct that 
the value of articles so supplied by a town should be allowed 
on its taxes for that year.'" Those articles that were not 
used in the war were later sold at auction. In 1783 the 

^B N. H. Hist. Society Collections, VII. 30, 331, 379. 
- 27 Ibid, VII. 9. 
^ Ibid. VII. 172. 
»« N. H. Prov. Papers, VII. 609. 

so N. H. Hist. Society Collections, VII. 5G. 

31 N. H. State Papers, VIII. 533. 

32 N. H. Prov. Papers, VIII. 606. 

33 N. H. Miscellaneous Papers, X. 582. 



New England, 27 

Committee was authorized to make arrangements for fram- 
ing the excise on spirituous Hcjuors, and appointed commit- 
tees to take the sale in charge in different counties/* 

The punishment of crime was left largely to the local 
committees and selectmen and to the new law courts after 
they were opened, but to two classes of offenders the Com- 
mittee of Safety gave special attention, to those suspected 
of hostility to the American cause, and to counterfeiters. 
No regular course of procedure was employed in dealing 
with the Tories ; sometimes they were apprehended and tried 
by the towns, sometimes by the counties, sometimes sent by 
the local bodies to the Assembly or to the Committee of 
Safety for trial, after a preliminary examination, or again 
they might be summoned directly before the central author- 
ity, by warrants issued from it against them.'' Witnesses 
were summoned and the Committee rendered its decision 
on the evidence presented, being at once prosecutor, judge, 
and executor of the sentence. 

The uncertainty and conflict of jurisdiction before the 
opening of the courts is well illustrated by a letter 
which the Committee of Safety of Holies wrote to 
the County Committee of Hillsborough, July 17, 1775. It 
states that the town had appointed a Committee of Safety 
to deal with the disaffected. ''Notwithstanding which, we 
understand," it writes, "you have assumed, on authoritv 
of your own, to Summon some of the inhabitants of this 
town before you for Tryal. We should have Really thought 

that you could not have been so mistaken as not to 

have known that it was your duty to have come and com- 
plained to us, and if you were not satisfied with our De- 
cision you might appeal for a Further Tryal to our 

Provincial Congress or Committee of Safety or to the Con- 
tinental Congress As to 3'Our citing any persons be- 
fore you who have been examined by us, and dealt with, we 

3* N. H. Miscellaneous Papers, X. 616. 617, 618. 

" N. H. Hist. Society Collections, VII. 2, 74, 79, 114, 185, 195, 583 



28 American Committees of Safety. 

look upon it to be of Dangerous Consequence.'"" Yet in 
spite of this emphatic protest there was no legal basis for 
denying the County Committee jurisdiction. It was theirs 
if they chose to assume it. 

The case of John Quigly is also in point. Quigly was 
a moderate Tory of Francestown. May 24, 1775, the Coun- 
ty Congress appointed a committee to try him, but Quigly 
failed to appear. This Committee, therefore, recorded his 
contempt, found him guilty on the evidence presented, and 
warned all persons against him. Meanwhile Qnigly had 
gone to the state Committee of Safety, had made a good 
impression, and had succeeded in obtaining from it a 
recommendation to Captain Bedel to be taken into his mili- 
tary company. Quigly appealed from the County Commit- 
tee to the Francestown Committee and obtained a reversal 
of the judgment.^^ 

The confiscation of the estates of refugees, to turn 
them to the profit of the new administration, was a measure 
adopted in New Hampshire as fully as elsewhere. There 
were special committees appointed for the counties to take 
charge of such lands, but the general direction of the mat- 
ter lay with the Committee of Safety. We find it ap- 
pointing and authorizing men to rent the improved land of 
absentees in the different counties, requesting a local com- 
mittee to inqi.iire into the ownership of a valuable piece of 
property or giving instructions to the trustees of an estate.^^ 

When New York sent to New Hampshire some of the 
Tory prisoners that she did not feel it safe to keep within 
her borders, it fell to the Committee of Safety to receive 
them. The New York Convention had directed that the 
prisoners were to live at their own expense, and to be sub- 
ject to such restrictions as the legislatures put upon them.'' 
The New Hampshire Committee of Safety imprisoned sixty- 

=*« N. H. Prov. Papers, VII. p 450. 
" N. H. Prov. Papers, VII. pp 563, 5G4. 

3» N. H. State Papers, VIII. 252. N. H. Miscellaneous Documents, 
X. pp 581, 582. 

" N. H. State Papers, VIII. p 379, et seq. 



New England, 29 

seven, but liberated the majority on parole, to provide their 
own lodg'ing and support. They were, however, to use no 
words or arguments prejudicial to the American cause on 
pain of immediate reimprisonment. Each was to make re- 
turn of his own and his landlord's name and the town where 
he took up his abode.*'^ A special committee took immediate 
care of the prisoners, but the Committee of Safety retained 
supervision of them."" The Tories did not find their con- 
finement arduous. Many w^ere released from jail by the 
Committee of Safety, on parole, and they were frequently 
permitted to return to New York for visits on promise to 
return." The government had too many interests of more 
importance to find it possible to look closely to these sus- 
pects. It was simpler to allow them to care for themselves. 
In connection with the lenient treatment they received, a let- 
ter from one of their number, Joshua Gidney, to his father 

is of interest. He says: ''On my arrival we were led 

before the Committee of Safety then setting in a Town 
called Exeter, the present seat of Government. The Com- 
mittee gave the major part of our number, of whom I am 
one. Liberty of seeking Lodging within six miles of the 

State House, a Liberty we did not expect On our 

march through Connecticut, etc., we w^ere told that the peo- 
ple of Exeter would deal wdtli us according to our deserts, 
by close confinement if not hanging, as every Tory deserved : 
but on our arrival and ever since we have been treated with 
civility and by some with Respect Some of my Breth- 
ren I hear have safely returned to their Family and friends 
by permission from the New Hampshire committee some 

have gone without liberty, among whom w^ere 4 who 

were all apprehended, brought back to Exeter, and confined 

*<> Ibid, VIII. 894. 

" Ibid, VIII. 401. 

« N. H. Hist. Society Collections. VII. pp 69, 81, 100, 156. State 
Papers, VIII. pp 494, 498. New Hampshire did not relisli the charge 
imposed on her by New Yorij. Her prisons, she claimed, were too full of 
counterfeiters to accommodate the Tories, while the presence of any 
number at large in the province would be prejudicial to the cause. 
Clinton's Papers, Vol. II. p 618. 



30 American Cominittees of Safety. 

for a while in Gaol, but since have been Liberated by given 
Bonds with surety."" 

The issue of paper money during the war at once 
brought counterfeiters into existence, and those suspected 
of the crime were brought before the local committees, the 
legislature or the Committee of Safety in the same way as 
the Tories."* That it was a common evil the number tried by 
the Committee of Safety proves. In 1777 the Committee 
desired that the local magistrates should take the apprehen- 
sion and examination of such persons in charge, and that 
those suspected should be tested before a Justice of the 
Peace by an oath."" In spite of this recommendation 
cases of this kind were frequently brought before it dur- 
ing the entire war. 

Such was in general the activity of the Committee of 
Safety in New Hampshire. Its position gave to the few 
men composing it, the executive headship of the State, and 
enabled the assembly through it to perform its executive 
duties. It interpreted such authority as it received, 
with great freedom, but it never claimed sovereignty 
itself. In fact it distinctly repudiated the idea in a let- 
ter to a local committee that had asked it to suspend the 
regulating act. It replied that it was appointed for 
special purposes, and was not authorized to make, suspend, 
or repeal laws of the State.'" It was rarely asked to 
report its proceedings to the legislature and its acts did 
not require its sanction for validity. Its accounts were 
occasionally laid before the assembly, but even this check 
on its acts was not often employed. Once appointed it 
v/as largely free from the legislature, though a body of its 
creation and always dependent for existence upon its will. 

Agreeable to a resolution of the Assembly a majority of 
the towns had appointed Committees of Safety to carry on 

" N. H. state Papers, VIII. 475. 

** N. H. Hist. Society Collections, VII. 90, 121. 174. 175, etc. 

« N. H. State Papers, VIII. 558. 

*« Ibid, VIII. 653. 



New England, 31 

their affairs during the war, and these local committees? 
were the machinery, through which the central government 
touched the people, and their cooperation and submission 
were necessary precedents to any effective administration. 
This acknowledgment of. the authority of the State Assem- 
bly and its committees was cordially granted by some sec- 
tions and withheld by others, and the legislature or Com- 
mittee of Safety as revolutionary bodies with no authority 
derived from the people to sanction their existence stood 
helpless before those towns that refused obedience. Such 
were the towns in the northwestern part of the State, that, 
seeing them.selves in a hopeless minority in the Exeter gov- 
ernment, owing to the new basis of representation, desired 
either to unite with Vermont, or to form a new State by 
combining with the towns in Vermont east of the Green 
Mountains. They therefore refused to accept the authority 
of the government at Exeter, declined to send representa- 
tives, or to pay taxes. During the war conciliatory meas- 
ures were tried by the General Assembly without effect.*' 
When, however, the war drew to a close and set free the 
hands ol the State, the sections that still refused allegiance 
were severely handled. There was no longer an attempt at 
persuasion, but threats of force were made against them 
and the Committee of Safety which had for a time been 
quietly engaged in settling the accounts of the war came 
forward to head the undertaking. The recalcitrant sections 
comprised those towns on the Connecticut river that desired 
to come under the jurisdiction of Vermont. The Conti- 
nental Congress upheld the claim of New Hampshire to 
them and declared that Vermont must relinquish all juris- 
diction east of the Connecticut river before she could be re- 
ceived into the Union. This Vermont refused to do. At 
this time the feeling between the States was further embit- 
tered by occurrences in Chesterfield, one of the border 

" N. H. state Papers, VIII. 450-1. The New Hampshire Grants by 
J. Rice. Mag. Am. Hist. VIII. pi. 



32 American Committees of Safety, 

towns in the county of Cheshire. A constable of Vermont 
attempted to arrest for debt a man who favored New Hamp- 
sliire, but was prevented by the man's friends, two of whom 
were in consequence committed to jail. They at once ap- 
pealed to the New Hampshire legislature, which passed an 
act, November, 1781, empowering the Committee of Safety 
to issue an order to the sheriff of Cheshire to release all 
persons confined there under authority of Vermont and to 
arrest all such persons as pretended to exercise such author- 
ity, and imprison them.""" Hale, the sheriff, was thereupon 
directed to attempt the release of the prisoners, but was him- 
self taken and thrown into prison. The Committee of Safe- 
ty then issued an order to the sheriff of Hillsborough to 
raise the body of his county in order to liberate Hale and 
to carry out Hale's instructions himself. It also directed 
Brigadier-General Nichols to raise and equip such a force 
from the county of Hillsborough as the sheriff should ask, 
while a commissary was appointed to supply the troops with 
food." Vermont, alarmed, issued orders for her militia to 
oppose force w^ith force. Early in January, 1782, matters 
being no nearer settlement, the New Hampshire General 
Assembly determined to raise a force of a thousand men 
and send it to hold the frontier, voting that the whole mat- 
ter of sending this armed force should be referred to the 
Committee of Safety, and empowering it to raise and 
march the troops at such time as it saw fit."' 

These extreme measures were, however, rendered un- 
necessary by the action of VermxOnt. Influenced by a per- 
sonal letter from Washington, the Assembly took advantage 
of an absence of the members on the east side of the Con- 
necticut to declare the west bank of that river their boun- 
dary, and the revolted towns came again under New Hamp- 
shire's authority." 

** N. H. Miscellaneous Papers, X. 437. 

" N. H. Miscellaneous Documents, X. 448, 449. 

''o Ibid, X. 475, 478. 

" Ibid, X. 484, 485. 



New England, 33 

The Committee of Safety was a small body, varying 
in size from six to twelve members. One reason for its 
efficiency is to be found in the fact that the foremost men 
in the colony were employed and that nearly the same mem- 
bers were chosen at each appointment. 

Unlike the Massachusetts 'Committee, the members of 
the New Hampshire Committee were paid for their services. 
This question of pay was first broached in November, 1775, 
when the Provincial Congress voted that the Committee of 
Safety receive nine shillings a day and expenses, in 
the recess.'' This vote was reconsidered and rescinded the 
next day. Tlie matter came forward again the following 
January and nine shillings and expenses were again given 
them.'' Throughout the remainder of their service while 
the Congress was not in session, some remuneration was 
voted them varying from seven to fourteen shillings a day. 

On June, 1784, the new constitution with its complete 
organization of departments took effect and the Committee 
of Safety went out of existence. The comment of a Tory 
who resided in the State during the revolution upon the 
Committee testifies to its character and ability. "New 
Hampshire," he said, "had never a more energetic govern- 
ment, nor a more honest executive.'"' 

" N. H. state Papers, VII. 657. 
" Ibid, VIII. 67. 

" The Constitution of New Hampsliire by William Plumer. Ilist. 
Mag. Vol. XIV. p 172. 



34 American Committees of Safety, 



3. Vermont. 



The early days of the Revohation found the New Hamp- 
shire Grants, as the section later known as Vermont was 
then called, under the nominal jurisdiction of New York. 
The majority of the people were opposed to the authority 
of that State, had denied its right to govern them, and had 
carried on their affairs by local Committees of Safety and 
central conventions. Until the fall of 1777 a remnant of 
New York's jurisdiction remained in the Committees of Safe- 
ty of Cumberland and Gloucester counties appointed under 
the authority of New York, which tried to hold their dis- 
tricts for that state. They were a great hindrance to the 
authority of Vermont, but as that government grew in pop- 
ularity and power, they gradually lost adherents, until they 
were unable to find sufficient support to hold their sessions, 
and in spite of protests and appeals from New York, the 
counties passed out of their control.' 

A Convention of the New Hampshire Grants, repre- 
senting the dififerent tovv^ns, met January, 1777, and declared 
the district a free and independent State. In June another 
Convention was held in which a committee was appointed 
to prepare a constitution to be referred for adoption to a 
Convention to meet in July. This July Convention adopted 
the constitution and before adjournment appointed a Coun- 
cil of Safety of twelve members to act until the new gov- 
ernment went into operation in December of that year.^ 

The Council of Safety thus chosen was given a tem- 
porary position of absolute independence. The Convention 
that appointed it had separated with no intention of meet- 
ing again. The new Assembly would not come together 

^ Records of the Gov. and Council of Vermont, I. App. A. No. 1. 
* Ira Allen Hist, of Vermont, 79, 92, 93. Vermont's Hist. Society 
Collections, I. 228. 



New England, 35 

until December. The Council therefore was controlled by 
no power outside itself that could direct its movements or 
call it to account. The people had not chosen and could 
not dismiss it. It was chosen for a definite period and no 
fear for re-election put the members under restraint. No 
official records of the July Convention have been preserved, 
so that it is impossible to tell the exact character of the 
authority conferred on it/' but it is certain from the rec- 
ords of its acts that it actually exercised supreme and. 
absolute power in the State, and transacted all it- civil aivd 
military business. 

Some difficulties lay in the way of making its posi- 
tion good. It was in the first place a novel one. Vermont 
had never known a settled government of her own. The 
conventions of the local Committees of Safety and later of 
the representatives of the towns, called for special purpose? 
and soon dismissed, were the only substitutes she had to 
offer for the long years of training in provincial government 
of such colonies as Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut. Even the people of New Hampshire, though al- 
lowed little influence in the administration of the State, 
had yet been represented in assemblies and had been accus- 
tomed during a long period of years to a settled government 
and to rendering obedience to it. To Vermont all this was 
new. The settlers weie used to the government of the little 
towns which during the pre-revolutionary period had lived 
like small republics, but they had no knowledge of the 
management of the afTairs of a whole province and no ex- 
perience of a central government of their own that should 
command their obedience. Such a central government had 
now beon created and put in the hands of the Council of 
Safety, in trust, till more complete organs of government 
could take it in charge. The men who composed the Coun- 

' Ira Allen, a member of the Council of Safety, says in his History 
of Vermont (page 96) that its powers were not extensive, but if any 
considerable limitations were set on its authority they seem to have 
been disregarded by the Council. 



36 American Commiifees of Safety, 

cil had but slight education. They were farmers, called 
from the field to take charge of a State and given the task 
of controlling a people unused to discipline. They were 
supported by no written constitution to serve as guide and 
as justification of their acts. It was then no light task that 
the Council had in hand. 

In addition, the situation of the new State at the time 
of the appointment of the Council was most disheartening. 
\^ew York still claimed jurisdiction, and still found adherents 
in disputed districts. New York officials and committees 
were yet busv in attempting to enforce authority and New 
York delegates in Congress were able to keep back any recog- 
nition of Vermont as a separate state. Still darker hung 
the dread of British invasion. Ticonderoga had fallen and 
Burgoyne's victorious army threatened the defenseless State. 
Nearly three-fourths of the people to the west of the Green 
IMountains had fled in terror to the east, leaving the fron- 
tiers unprotected." Large numbers of the settlers joined the 
enemy intending to return to their farms under the protec- 
tion of Burgoyne's next victory. 

No money or revenue was at the command of the Coun- 
cil, and troops must be raised at once, equipped and sup- 
ported. The members of the Council spent a long day dis- 
cussing ways and means. Even if the people were willing 
to respond to a requisition for the purpose, too long a time 
would elapse before the money could be collected and put in 
the hands of the State. Some other plan must be devised. 
A majority of the Council felt that the State could only af- 
ford two companies, but Ira Allen, the secretary, insisted on 
nothing less than a regiment. It was therefore decided to 
put on his shoulders the task of devising means for their 
support. The next morning Allen recommended the confis- 
cation and sale of the land of refugees to the enemy and his 
plan was adopted.'* 

* Ira AUen, Hist, of Vermont, p 95. 
^ Ira Allen, Hist, of Vermont, p 96. 



New England. 37 

The money obtained in this way was found sufficient for 
all the expenses of the State so that no taxes were imposed 
during the existence of the Council, a fact which without 
doubt earned them popular support and obedience. Com- 
missioners of Sequestration were appointed at once, and 
were directed to seize the land and goods of any person go- 
ing over to the enemy. Those articles that were serviceable for 
the troops were to be sent to the army contractors. All 
other movables were to be sold at auction (except such as 
were necessary for the support of the dependent members 
of the family) and the money sent to the Council. The land 
was to be leased for a term of not over two years to any per- 
son that wished it, preference being given to those who had 
been driven from their homes by the war." 

The necessary funds being thus provided a regiment of 
rangers was raised, to be under the direction of the Council 
or the Commander in-chief of the army east of the Hudson, 
and Samuel Herrick was commissioned as Lieutenant- 
colonel.^ A call was issued to the settlers who had fled from 
their homes to return and protect their crops.^ Posts were 
sent to different militia officers to send all the troops possible 
to Manchester where the attack was expected and earnest 
requests for aid were dispatched to Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire.' 

Not long after, a regiment from Massachusetts arrived 
in the State. General Schuyler, a citizen of New York, and 
commander of the northern army, at once ordered the 
Massachusetts troops and Herrick's rangers to Saratoga. 
The Massachusetts troops were under the regulations of the 
Continental Congress and its officers, and were obliged to 
comply. But the Council of Safety felt for once the advan- 
tage of its independence and isolation, and determining 
to defend its own frontier, superseded Schuyler's orders, 

6 Records of the Gov. and Council of Vermont, I. p 136. 
^ Records of the Gov. and Council of Vt., I. p 135. 

8 Ibid, I. p 137. 

9 Ibid, I. pp 130, 133. 



38 American Committees of Safety, 

and directed Herrick to remain in Vermont. This led to 
several irascible letters from Schuyler, but the Council re- 
mained unmoved, not unwilling doubtless to thwart a repre- 
sentative of their old enemy." 

New Hampshire responded to Vermont's appeal with a 
brigade of militia commanded by General Stark, who put 
himself under the direction of the Council of Safety. The 
two co-operated in active preparations for the battle, the 
Council rendering great service in giving word of the 
enemy's movements, in supplying arms and ammunition, and 
sending requests to the nearest militia^ officers for aid." 

The decisive victory at Bennington over Baum's de- 
tachment was the result, and the cloud that had hung over 
the frontier lifted. Stark, in a letter to the Hartford Cou- 
rant,'^ acknowledged the important part which the Council 
had played, and presented it with a Hessian broadsword in 
memory of the event, and in testimony of its aid. Bur- 
goyne himself paid tribute to its energy when he wrote 
to Lord George Germaine, August 20 : ''Wherever the king's 
forces point, militia to the amount of three or four thousand 
assemble in twenty-four hours. The New Hampshire Grants 
in particular, a country unpeopled and almost unknown in 
the last war, now abounds in the most active and most re- 
bellious race of the continent, and hang like a gathering 
storm on my left." '^ It was due to the exertions of the 
Council that the military strength of the Province had been 
organized for effective resistance. 

Aside from the refusal to obey General Schuyler, Ver- 
mont co-operated actively with the Continental Army. The 
Council was wise enough to see that the possibility of inde- 
pendence lay only in union of effort and that its State 
must stand or fall with the success or failure of the United 
vStates. In August the Council raised three hundred and 

10 Ibid, I. 96. 

" Records of the Gov. and Council of Vt., I. 138, 144, 145. 

>2 Ibid, I. 144, note. 

1' Vermont Hist. Society Collections, I. 227. 



New England, 39 

twenty-five men for General Lincoln for the Continental 
service, voting them fifty shillings a month in addition to 
continental pay.'* A committee also was sent to assure him 
of every aid and assistance/' 

Its relations with Gates were equally cordial. Sep- 
tember 18, it wrote him, "Nothing in the power of the 
Council will be neglected to prosecute your orders when 
called iipon," '^ and again a little later, "The Council are 
every moment Anxious to know your honor's present Situa- 
tion, your wants, (if any) and whether they be such as in 
their power to relieve." '^ At his request militia were raised 
and sent him, and his consent obtained before they were dis- 
missed.'* The news that the Council received of the move- 
ments of the enemy which its position on the frontier often 
made valuable, were forwarded to him at once.'^ It also 
distributed for him his orders to the militia commanders of 
neighboring states."" The Council entered heartily into the 
continental plan of invading Canada, orders were issued for 
the enlistment of three hundred men and bounties prom- 
ised.^' The project was given up however, and Vermont re- 
tained her contingent as a guard for the frontier. 

The Council was commander-in-chief of its forces with- 
in the State. It appointed and commissioned officers, super- 
intended the raising of troops, determined on their bounties 
and their pay, and issued orders and directions to the com- 
manders." It relinquished this control, of necessity, when 
the troops were sent to join the continental army outside the 
state. 

In the trial of Tories the Council recommended the local 
committees to assist the central government by a preliminary 
trial of the disafi^ected in their district. If the accused could 

^* Records of the Gov. and Council of Vermont, I. 152. 

" Ibid, I. 159. 

1" Ibid, I. 170. 

" Ibid, I. 181. 

" Ibid, I. 170, 196. 

i» Records of the Gov. and Council of Vt., I. 174, 180, 187. 

•^^ Ibid, I. 171, 175. 

^ Ibid, I. 219. 

« Ibid. I. 155, 216, 228. 



40 American Committees of Safety. 

not satisfy them of his innocence he was to be sent to the 
Council of Safety for final trial. This was a limitation of 
the powers granted by the June Convention, whereby the 
localities were enabled to try and sentence Tories without 
reference to other authority/' but was necessary to give sys- 
tem and harmony to the prosecution, and to save the Tories 
from the irresponsible tyranny of the localities. The Coun- 
cil also prevented a misunderstanding in regard to the own- 
ership of the confiscated property, writing to the town of 
Clarendon that property of this kind was forfeited not to 
particular towns but to the State.'" The surrender of Bur- 
goyne's army gave the State a sense of security long un- 
known. The Council was not slow to find in the circum- 
stance an opportunity for generosity toward its enemies. 
The town committees were recommended to liberate all per- 
sons confined on suspicion of being enemies to the cause, 
placing only the more dangerous under some restriction, 
such as confinement to their farms under the inspection of 
suitable persons. "" 

In the absence of regular courts the Council of Safety 
acted as judges of both civil and criminal cases as they 
arose.''* The inhabitants were moreover directed to present 
any complaint they might have against the rangers to the 
Council for adjustment.'^ There was little connection be- 
tween the local committees and the central Council in the 
trial of ordinary cases. Both probably acted independently 
as courts of justice. The Council of Safety occasionally re- 
ferred cases that were brought to it, to the local bodies 
for trial, sometimes recommending that two or three com- 
mittees should consider the matter jointly. "" 

The connection between the towns and the Council was 
not close. There was no fiscal or judicial machinery of the 

" Ibid, I. 61. 

" Records of the Gov. and Council of Vt., I. p 61. 
« Ibid, I. p 190. 

2« Records of the Gov. and Council of Vt., I. pp 180, 191, 204, 207, 
209. 

^ Ibid, I. p 212. 

28 Ibid, I. pp 222, 224, 225. 



New England, 4^ 

central government in the localities to bring them into de- 
pendence, and they stood like small semi-independent com- 
munities, managing their own affairs in their own way. The 
Council wisely refrained from attempting interference in 
purely local affairs. The directions which it issued to the 
towns were on matters pertaining to the whole State and 
were framed as requests and recommendations, rather than 
orders. For these reasons there seems to have been no re- 
sistance to its authority, but cordial cooperation. The 
Council was determined to hold all territory that the con- 
vention had claimed and to contest the authority of New 
York in the disputed counties. August lo, 1777, the Coun- 
cil arrested the chairman of the Committee of Cumberland 
County, which had been organized under New York's au- 
thority, and kept him in custody for a week.'' At the same 
time Ira Allen was busy in the same district, endeavoring 
to win the people to Vermont, and urging them to form new 
committees friendly to its interests.'" The sympathy of the 
people was in general with the new state and they soon 
prevented the New York committees from holding their 
meetings."' 

The Assembly under the constitution was to have met in 
December, 1777, but the war had so fully occupied the time 
of the Council that it had had no opportunity to print and 
distribute the constitution and arrange for elections. It 
therefore decided to summon the last Convention to meet 
again, to order the postponement of the Assembly, not deem- 
ing it advisable to take so important a step itself.'' 

The Convention met December 24. It revised the con- 
stitution, postponed the elections until the following March, 
and the meeting of the Assembly until the second Thursday 
of the same month, and then separated.'' During its last 
months the Council besides its former duties was largely oc- 

29 Records of the Gov. and Council of Vt., I. App. U. 
" B H. Hall, Hist, of Eastern Vermont, pp 298, Z^\i. 
" Ibid, p 299. ,^ . T 01A 

" Kecs. of the Gov. and Council of Vermont, I. 210. 
» Slade, Vermont State Papers, p 80. 



42 American Committees of Safety, 

cupied in preparing business for the next legislature. It 
printed and distributed the constitution and the elections 
were carried on under its supervision. When the Assembly 
met, March 12, 1778, the members of the Committee laid 
down their authority, to find that the gratitude and confi- 
dence of the people had given a majority of their number a 
seat in the Governor's Council. Within seven months every 
member of the Council of Safety, then living, had received 
an honorable position in the government.'* 

The task of the Council of Safety had been difficult and 
without other rem.uneration than the successful issue of its 
labor. In an address to the people of Vermont it wrote, 
''Nothing but a real zeal for the future well-being of the 
inhabitants of the United States in General and this in par- 
ticular could have induced this Council to have undertaken 
the arduous task of setting so many months successively, to 
provide for the Safety of the Inhabitants." " There was 
little 'of the pleasure of power granted it, much of its 
danger. It found Vermont a group of towns in peril 
from enemies without and within. These towns it kept 
together, aiding them against the intrigues of New York, 
and protecting them against the army of the British. It 
maintained Vermont as an independent state and gave it un- 
impaired and strengthened into the hands of an organized 
government. 

" Kecords of the Gov. and Council of Vermont, I. 74. 
35 Ibid, I. 215. 



Nezo England. 43 



4. Rhode Island. 



Rhode Island, owing to the practically independent and 
republican character of its government passed through the 
transition period without feeling the necessity of any change 
in constitution. The Governor was out of sympathy with 
the majority of the colonists, but he was quietly deposed in 
November, 1775, ^"^ Deputy-Governor Cooke elected in his 
place. The magistrates and other officials kept on in their 
duty, the Assembly was chosen as usual under the provisions 
of the charter, and the inhabitants were not subjected to the 
rule of irresponsible conventions. 

In Governor Cooke the people possessed a capable exec- 
utive and there was no need therefore of a committee of the 
assembly to take that position. But the Governor was not 
given independent war powers. The legislature retained as 
complete control in its own sphere as before, and when it 
was not in session it appointed during the war a Recess Com- 
mittee to take its place. This Committee corresponds to the 
Committee of Safety of the other colonies although it did not 
bear that name. It was first called the Committee Appointed 
to Act in the Recess of the Assembly. The body that was 
christened the Committee of Safety in Rhode Island w^as a 
subordinate committee appointed by the legislature in the 
spring of 1775, whose care it was to supply the troops with 
arms, tents, provisions and every other necessity and to pay 
them.' The Recess Committee was later called the Grand 
Committee of Safety, or sometimes only the Grand Com- 
mittee. 

It came into being as a means of carrying out a plan of 
General Washington. August 14, 1775, Washington wrote 
Deputy-Governor Cooke proposing that he send a ship from 

^ R. I. Col. Rec, VII. p 822. 



44 American Committees of Safety. 

Rhode Island to seize tlie powder on one of the Bermuda 
Islands, which it was believed was only protected by a small 
guard. Such an expedition could not be undertaken without 
authority granted by the Assembly, but it was injudicious to 
lay a plan whose success was secrecy before so large a body. 
The Governor therefore proposed and the legislature agreed 
that a committee should be appointed to serve during the 
recess to transact all business on which the common safety 
depended and particularly to employ the Colony's two ships 
of war.' Before this Committee Governor Cooke laid Wash- 
ington's project and they agreed to make the attempt. Cap- 
tain Whipple was dispatched with one of the ships, but the 
expedition was a failure, as ships from more southern 
colonies had previously visited the island and captured the 
powder." 

Although its first work was thus unremunerative, sim- 
ilar committees were appointed to represent the legislature 
in its recess from this time until December, 1776. The Gov- 
ernor and Deputy-Governor were members, usually a part 
of the assistants (sometimes the whole body), and twelve or 
thirteen deputies, making about seventeen or nineteen in 
all.* Such other members of the General Assembly as cared 
to do so could be present and vote. It was thus possible for 
the Committee to pass into the regular Assembly and back 
again to a committee, as interest in the subjects under discus- 
sion varied the attendance. 

Such a body could not be given duties dififering and 
sharply defined from those of the Assembly itself, since it 
would not be possible for the Committee to tell at the be- 
ginning of a session in what capacity it would be acting at its 
close. No attempt was made indeed to define its powers. 
In an appointment made August, 1775, it was authorized 
to exert in the recess the whole force and strength of the 

» Ibid, VII. p 365. 

' Col. R. I. Hist. Soc, VI. Amer. Arcl Ives, 4th Series, III. pp 653. 
710, 718, 808. 

« K. I. Col. Rec, VII. pp 365, 442, 501, 503. 



New England. 45 

Colony for its defense and safety upon any sudden emergency 
or danger,' to act therefore for the time being with the au- 
thority of the provincial government. It is to be noted that 
this jurisdiction was to be assumed only when peril threat- 
ened the Colony so suddenly that the Assembly could not 
be brought together in time to act. « It was not to carry on 
the ordinary business of the government and tmless danger 
suddenly darkened, might not be called upon to act at all. 

The powers of the Committee appointed in March, 1776, 
and of those chosen later, were broadened somewhat as the 
progress of the war ma<de the danger more constant. These 
Committees were directed to transact all such business as the 
exigency of public affairs in the recess of the General As- 
sembly might require. While, therefore, the usual civil legis- 
lation and administration were not within its sphere, such 
business as related to continuing the defense of the colony 
and stationing of the militia, the providing of fortifications, 
and restraining troublesome Tories were in its hands. 
Whatever steps it took, however, were to be reported 
to the next Assembly for approval.^ As the Committee 
included the Governor as well as representatives of the As- 
sembly and was at once an executive and legislative body it 
would find no difficulty or friction in embodying its plans in 
action. 

We find it raising and embodying troops and for- 
warding their march.^ One of the ships of war was sent by 
its order on a cruise against the British and later to Phila- 
delphia for flour.^ It dispatched two row galleys and 
certain of the troops to New London to cooperate with Gov- 
ernor Trumbull in an attempt on Long Island. When in 
December, 1776, the British fleet appeared and threatened 
the State, the Committee ordered all the militia under arms 
and a new regiment was drafted and its officers appointed. 

5 Ibid, VII. p 365. 

« R. I. Col. Rec. VII. pp 501. 574, 613. 

^ Col. R. I. Hist. Society, VI. 170-2. Letter of Nicholas Cooke, 
Oct. 5, 1776 (MSS.). 

« Col. R. I. Hist. Society, VI. pp 131, 134. 



46 American Committees of Safety. 

An embargo was laid on privateers and merchant vessels in 
order to aid in recruiting the Rhode Island ships of war and 
the live stock on exposed parts was driven into places of 
more security ." The Committee's acts seem to have met the 
approval of the Assembly and the records show no instance 
in which any of its acts was repealed. 

We have seen that the indefinite size of the Committee 
prevented its having well-defined powers. It must also have 
been a hindrance to a consistent policy, since one day's or 
one hour's majority might be outvoted in the next. It was 
too large as well. Its permanent nucleus was about nineteen 
members and the addition of others from the Assembly must 
soon have changed it to a deliberative body with divisions 
and factions, and every difficulty to prompt action. It was, 
therefore, an improvement when it was superseded by the 
Council of War. 

This Council which was definitely composed, on its first 
appointment, of the Governor, Deputy-Governor and eight 
members of the House of Deputies, was chosen by the As- 
sembly in December, 1776. The British had taken the island 
of Rhode Island and it was necessary to secure to the Colony 
a continuous and capable government to deal with the crisis. 
That no time might be lost in waiting for absent members 
the Governor and his Deputy with four Assistants were de- 
clared a quorum of the upper house and twenty-one deputies 
a quorum of the lower house." To take their place in the 
recess, the Council of War was appointed. Any five of its 
members were authorized "to transact every thing and mat- 
ter for the well-being and security" of the State and of the 
United States. It was to make all orders and rules for 
governing, disciplining, clothing and supplying the army 
raised by Rhode Island and by the neighboring States for 
its aid, and all such rules v/ere to be of as full force as if 
passed by the General Assembly. The Governor was asked 

» Arnold, Hist, of Rhode Island, II. p 389. 
" R. I. Col. Rec, -VIII. p 56. 



New England, 47 

to write the other New England States, informing them of 
the appointment of the Council and requesting them to ap- 
point committees to meet with it at Providence to discuss the 
question of raising an army against the British." 

The name, "Council of War" was familiar to Rhode 
Island. In 1740 when the alliance o'f France and Spain 
made the Colony look closer to its arms and revise its militia 
system, a permanent Council of War had been appointed, of 
the Governor, the Council, the field-officers and captains. 
Again in 1755 a Committee of War had been chosen by the 
Assembly to have general direction of military matters, dur- 
ing the Seven Years War.^" 

In accordance with the wish of the Assembly, Governor 
Cooke wrote to New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut that the authority of the government of Rhode 
Island considered itself inadequate to organize and direct an 
army collected from the different States ; that a Council of 
War had therefore been appointed with full power to act in 
this matter with such committees as should be chosen by the 
rest of New England."" The States responded by sending 
three delegates each, to Providence. Three members of the 
Council of War represented Rhode Island and Stephen Hop- 
kins was chosen President. The Convention thus formed 
voted to raise six thousand men and assigned the quotas that 
each State should send. An act to prevent monopolies and a 
recommendation that no more paper money be issued were 
also' passed." 

The activity of the Council of War was not bounded by 
this Convention, however, since it carried on the government 
in the military department in the recess of the Assembly. Like 
councils were appointed from 1776 to October, 1781. The 
surrender of Cornwallis then brought the hope of peace, and 
the war pressure being removed, the ordinary organs of gov- 

" R. I. Col. Rec, VIII. pp 56. 57. 
i» R. I. Col. Rec, V. p 410 ; VI. p 146. 
^' Amer. Archives, 5th Series, III. p 1208. 
1* Arnold, Hist, of Rhode Island. II. p 392. 



48 American Committees oj Sajety. 

ernment v/ere found sufficient. The Council was, until the 
spring of i/Si, a large body, varying after the first appoint- 
ment from seventeen to nineteen members, but in the last 
two appointments the number was reduced to five. It al- 
ways included the Governor and Deputy-Governor, repre- 
sentatives of the lower house and usually a few of the As- 
sistants. Complaints having arisen that the State was 
unequally represented in the Council, in October, 1778, and 
thereafter the members were drawn proportionally from the 
different counties. Unless four (later three) counties were 
present the Council was deemed incapable of passing any 
resolution.'^ 

It was always given some remuneration and the 
different amounts received are indicative of the common 
currency troubles. The members of the first Council were 
paid nine shillings a day, if they lived outside of Provi- 
dence, where the meetings were held, six if they were 
residents of that town. A later Council received six 
dollars a day, another six pounds, and by May, 1780, 
each man was entitled to a nominal salary of thirty 
pounds a day in lawful money. A year later their com- 
pensation, reckoned in silver, amounted to fifteen shillings 
a day.'** Whether the Assembly, placing but a moderate esti- 
mate on its utility, wished to limit its sessions, as a 
matter of economy, is not certain, but two acts were passed 
in 1778 to thus restrain it. By the first it was recom- 
mended to the Council of War to meet at the expense of the 
State no more than six days in every other week unless the 
Governor should consider it imperative. Sunday meetings 
were forbidden except on great and urgent occasions. In 
September it was voted that the Council continue in session 
but four days at a time in its monthly meetings." 

Up to 1780 the Council's power over the militia was 
substantially that of the legislature, save that it was always 

" R. I. Col. Rec, VIII. pp 56, 229, 316, 419, 47. 545, 615 ; IX. 
pp 68, 422, 486. 

^« R. I. Col. Rec, VIII. pp 208, 423, 472, 615. 
^■< Ibid, VIII. pp 382, 449. 



New England. 49 

in the latter's power to repeal or reverse any of the orders 
which it considered ill advised.'l It might within this 
limit raise and equip the forces, call them into service and 
order them to different stations. Its control of the Colony's 
continental quota was hampered by the superior authority 
of the continental officers. Here it did not command but 
recommended, and its suggestions were not always followed. 
In May, 1780, the Council advised General Heath to order 
Colonel Green's regiment to march at once to join the army. 
Washington, however, considered the regiment too small to 
give material reinforcement at that time and therefore de- 
cided that it should remain where it was.''' Later in the same 
year the Council wished a part of Colonel Green's men to be 
used to make hay, but the request was refused, because 
Washington desired the regiment kept in close and constant 
discipline.**' 

The Council had power to appoint and commission 
officers. It was also occasionally given authority to ex- 
amine them for misconduct and dismiss them if found cul- 
pable."' Any commissioned officer in the navy of the State 
could be tried before it in court martial." 

While the Committee of Safety generally furnished the 
war supplies the Council of War not infrequently acted inde- 
pendently in this matter, procuring the articles of which it 
saw the army was in immediate need, which included a 
miscellaneous list of beds, wheelbarrows, soap, duck, sulphur 
and leather. Ships were permitted to leave for southern 
ports to bring back war stores of which the Council of War 
was to have the refusal, and occasionally the Council sent a 
venture in a ship of its own."" Wood for the soldiers' fires 
was a pressing necessity and the Council arranged that it 
should be supplied weekly by the different towns, the town 

18 Ibid, VIII. p 404. 

i» R. I. Col. Rec, IX. p 151. 

2» Ibid, IX. p 303. 

=" Ibid, VIII. pp 250, 343. 

» Ibid, VIII. p 262. Council of War Journals. 

" Council of War Journals. 



50 American Committees of Safety. 

councils assessing it on the individuals. Often men were 
excused from militia duty on condition of bringing in wood 
to sell to the State.'* 

While the continental embargo lasted permits for ex- 
ports were granted from the Council of War.^' It 
attempted at one time to impose further restrictions within 
the State by prohibiting any provisions necessary for the 
army from being taken from the town of Providence, but this 
act was found so injurious in its operation that it was 
promptly repealed by the legislature when it met.'" When 
commercial restrictions imposed by another colony injured 
Rhode Island the Council was quick to protest against the 
impolicy of the system and urge the abrogation of the laws.""' 
Besides license to export, permission to leave the State or to 
remove into it was to be obtained from the Council of War.^ 

The Assembly gave to the Council as full power over the 
treasury as it enjoyed itself, and no money could be drawn 
thence v/ithout an order from one of the two bodies.''" Cer- 
tain accounts were given from time to time into the hands 
of the Council to adjust and settle. Thus the Committee of 
Safety was ordered to lay its account relative to paying 
certain demands against the State before it for adjustment.^" 
The same order was given to the State Commissary and to 
the tax-gatherers who had been given the duty of collecting 
stockings for the troops in different towns.'' In September, 
1780, it was directed to appoint a stated time when all per- 
sons having accounts with the State should appear before 
it, in order that they might be settled.'' The Council au- 
thorized the issue of paper money and negotiated loans. 

" Ibid. 

" R. I. Col. Rec, VIII. p 269. 

" Council of War Journals, Dec, 1776. R. I. Col. Rec , VIII. 
p 74. 

" Col. R. I. Hist. Society, VI. p 244. 

2» R. I. Col. Rec, VIII. p 302, 625 ; IX. 235. Coun. of War Jour- 
nals. 

*» Col. Rec. of R. I., VIII. p 80. Council of War Journals. 

30 Ibid, VIII. p 342. 

»i Ibid, IX. p 225. 

" Council of War Journals. 



New England, 51 

The Tories of Rhode Island were subject to the same \ 
espionage and to the same arbitrary treatment that were ' 
their portion throughout the thirteen colonies. In the recess 
of the Assembly the Council of War often took its place in 
the arrest, examination and punishment of suspects. The 
legislature referred cases to them which it was probably too 
busy to handle, without other advice or restriction than that 
it should proceed in such manner as should be most con- 
sistent with the ''safety of the state ;" a phrase which might 
countenance the most arbitrary measures. The Council of 
War, combining as it did judicial and executive functions and 
given free rein by the legislature, was well adapted to admin- 
ister speedy retribution to any Tory who could not satisfy 
his neighbor of the purity of his sympathy with the Ameri- 
can cause. The Council of War was not the only court of 
trial for the Tories. There existed as well special committees 
appointed by the Assembly to examine into the conduct of 
those who were suspected of hostility to the cause or who 
carried on forbidden intercourse with the enemy. Suspects . 
were in the later years of the war. often tried before the I 
Superior Court of Judicature.^^ 

The commission given the first Council of War was 
followed in subsequent appointments till 1780, when . the 
pressure of danger which had justified its extensive author- 
ity was passing away, and the Assembly held it expedient 
to place some limitation on its power. It enacted therefore 
that the Council of War should be authorized to make all 
orders and regulations of an executive nature in both civil 
and military matters, but only in cases that required im- 
mediate attention, while the power of legislation was 
definitely denied.'^ In May, 1781, it was further re- 
stricted to making only such regulations of a military nature 



" Council of War Journals. 

3* R, I. Col. Rec, IX. pp 73, 74. 



52 American Committees of Safety, 

as needed sudden and immediate dispatch."'' The Hmiting 
of the Council's activity to cases of pressing and sudden 
necessity which lasted to the close of its career, placed it in 
the position of the first recess committees, thus bringing it 
from the height to which danger had raised it to the level 
from which it had sprung. November 24, 1781, the Coun- 
cil adjourned sine die.'" 

" R. I. Col. Rec, IX. p 422. Tlie Council at this time when In 
doubt of its capacity to act alone called in members of the legislature 
who happened to be in the neighborhood. Council of War Journals, 
June and Nov., 1781. 

" Council of War Journals. 



New England. 53 



5. Connecticut. 



In Connecticut the Committee of Safety took the form 
of an advisory council to assist the Governor in mihtary 
matters This colonv alone of the thirteen was able to pass 
the crisis of the Revolution without any alteration in govern- 
ment, and the rebel Governor, Jonathan Trumbull, remamed 
throughout the war its executive head. 

It belonged to his position to raise and command the 
militia and to see that the men were properly armed and 
equipped. To aid and advise him in this work nme men 
were chosen by the Assembly in its May session, 177 S- They 
were ''to assist the Governor when the Assembly was not m 
session, to direct the marches and stations of the soldiers 
enlisted for the defense of the colony, or any part of them as 
they should judge proper, and supply with every matter and 
thing that should be needful for the defense of the colony. 
The body thus chosen did not bear the name of Council of 
Safety but its duties were practically identical with those 
given later councils of that name, so that it may justly be 
classed with them. 

The Council as thus constituted was entirely sub- 
ordinate to the Governor. It had no independent power, but 
must act, if at all, with and through him. A similar council 
with the name of Council of Safety was appointed each May 
by the Assemblv from 1 775-1 783 inclusive. Its membership 
varied from nine to twenty. The Deputy-Governor was 
always chosen and three or four Assistants, the others being 
drawn from the House of Representatives. Nearly the same 
members were appointed to the Council during the entire 
period of its existence. 

- Royal B. Hinman, Historical Collection of the part sustained by 
Connecticut in tlie Revolution. 



54 American Committees oj Safety. 

The commissions given the Councils of Safety at the 
time of their appointment varied Httle. Besides the powers 
already noted they were, with the Governor, to direct the 
navy as well as the army and to carry out any special trust 
imposed by the legislature. The Governor was to convene 
the whole Council on all important occasions, but if the 
emergency of the case rendered this impossible, five might be 
a quorum. In 1776 the pay of the members was fixed at 
eight^ shillings a day, but it was later raised to twelve shil- 
lings.^ 

The Assembly issued directions to the Governor and 
Council* from time to time, and gave them powers to per- 
form duties not included in their commission. Thus they 
were ordered to raise and to form into regiments certain of 
the militia or disband and dismiss the troops.^ They were 
frequently authorized to appoint and commission certain of- 
ficers and to fill such vacancies among the officers of a regi- 
ment as might occur in the recess of the Assembly.^ It is to 
be noted that the powers thus conferred were for individual 
and particular cases. The Assembly never gave the Gover- 
nor and Council general power to raise all the militia or 
appoint all the officers. In fact, in one instance the legisla- 
ture having empowered them to appoint the officers in the 
eight battalions then being raised in the State, expressly de- 
clared that this power and authority was "thus delegated and 
referred in consideration of the extraordinary and peculiar 
circumstances of the case, and not to be drawn into pre- 
cedent in the future." ' Military preparation cannot wait 
upon the convenience of a legislature, and during the recess 
of the Connecticut Assembly the raising and marshalling 
of troops was of necessity transferred to another body, and 
fell naturally to the Governor and Council of Safety. 

3 Hinman, p 210. Public Records of Conn., I. p 253 ; II. p 18, 287. 

3 Hinman, p 210. Public Record, I. p 250. 

* By the Council is always meant unless otherwise specified the 
Council of Safety. 

» e. g. Public Records, I. pp 118, 373. Hinman, p 98. 

• e. g. Public Records, I. pp 37, 70, 73. 
T Ibid, I. p 73. 



New England, 55 

By their commission the Governor and Council were to 
control the method of procuring and distributing supplies, 
and the Assembly only interfered in occasional orders rela- 
tive to forwarding the stores or to give them permission to 
lay embargoes to prevent the export of commodities, or to 
grant them the power of impressing what they needed if it 
could be obtained in no other way.^ Other charges were 
occasionally imposed on the Governor and Council and will 
be noted later. The Assembly thus claimed the power of 
directing the Governor and Council from time to time, but 
never interfered to dictate the manner in which these duties 
should be performed or exacted a report of their proceed- 
ings. The Council sat only in the recess of the legislature, 
and in order that that body might keep in touch with affairs, 
the Council of Safety was to represent it through their posi- 
tion as advisors of the Governor. The relation of Governor 
and Council was not clearly defined, but the two worked in 
harmony. Governor Trumbull was well trusted in Connecti- 
cut, and the Council far from seeking occasion to hamper 
and block him, was content to take the position of a purely 
advisory body. If the Governor saw fit, as sometimes hap- 
pened, to take measures without consulting it, the members 
were ready to approve without question." Governor Trum- 
bull thus kept the management of affairs and the responsi- 
bility. He was the soul of the Council and was present and 
presided at all its meetings. It aided him not so much in 
materially decreasing his labor, as in giving him the wisdom 
and experience of able men. 

We have now to consider in more detail the work per- 
formed by the Governor and Council of Safety. It was, gen- 
erally speaking, purely military in character, relating only to 
those exigencies which the war had occasioned. The 
journals of the Council of State as distinguished from the 
Council of Safety have been lost, but it is probable that the 

8 Hinman, p 233. Public Records, I. pp 9, 70, 72 ; II. p 17. 
• Public Records of Connecticut, I. pp 55, 58, 202 ; II. p 216. 



56 American Committees of Safety. 

former carried on the ordinary civil affairs of the State while 
the military affairs were exclusively in the hands of the lat- 
ter. Under its supervision militia were raised, officered 
and sent by it to join the Continental army or to guard 
the frontiers of the State. The troops that stayed in Con- 
necticut were directly subject to its command. The 
militia officers were responsible to it for their conduct, 
and could be summoned and punished for misbehavior.'" 
Every effort was made to answer the calls for troops 
and regiment after regiment was sent forward to the 
Continental army without delay. It generously placed 
the welfare of the whole before that of their par- 
ticular province, and when Washington asked for the 
troops which they had intended to reserve as a coast 
guard, they were allowed to go. The records tell us that 
the demand was "much considered," and the Council felt 
that the troops would be less useful at Boston than at home. 
Nevertheless they were sent at once and new men raised to 
take their place." The untiring cheerfulness and zeal with 
which troops were raised for the service won from Wash- 
ington and the Continental Congress the highest praise and 
confidence." 

The Governor was the first naval officer in the State 
and as such had charge of Connecticut's little fleet. The 
coast was rarely free from the dread of the British privateers, 
and the Governor and Council fitted out war galleys, armed 
sloops and men-of-war to clear the sound and to make 
descents upon the ports of Long Island." Prize after prize 
rewarded these cruises and the Governor and Council ad- 
justed the shares of the booty." As was perhaps to be 
expected, the captains of these Connecticut privateers went 
at times beyond the narrow line dividing them from pirates, 
and looking rather to plunder than to the source from which 

10 Public Records of Conn., I. pp 390, 442 ; II. p 445. 

" Hlnman, p 333. 

" American Archives, 4th Series. IV. pp 697, 790 ; V. p 233. 

i» Public Records, Vol. I. and II. 

" Public Records, Vol. I. pp 84, 156, 213, etc. 



New England, 57 

it came, committed depredations upon the property of good 
Whigs. Complaints of these abuses were promptly con- 
sidered by the Governor and Council. The captain was 
either ordered directly to make good the wrong done, or 
summoned to them to answer the charge.'" 

The Governor and Council saw that the State troops 
were supplied with food and clothing, arms and ammuni- 
tion. They adopted no uniform way of collecting and dis- 
tributing what was needed. Sometimes the selectmen of 
particular towns were required to furnish arms and 
blankets," sometimes all towns were levied upon propor- 
tionately for shirts, frocks, stockings and shoes." At times 
individual men took the matter in charge, or again, special 
committees or commissaries.^'"^ In the scarcity of money the 
towns sometimes were allowed to pay their taxes in supplies 
of this kind.'^" 

The iron foundry at Salisbury was under the control 
of the Governor and Council and from it a large supply of 
arms and ammunition was obtained.'' 

If engrossers held back supplies the Council could seize 
them, paying only an appraised value.^' When need urged, 
supplies were sought beyond the State, men being sent to 
trade for that purpose with Massachusetts, Maryland and 
even with the Bahamas.''' Once, irritated by the continued 
depredations of the British, the Governor and Council or- 
dered the seizure in Long Island or elsewhere of the cattle 
and goods of the British and Tories for the use of the 
State." 

The Governor and Council not only cared for the wants 
of the soldiers when well and in service, but provided hos- 

" Public Records, I. pp 107, 110, etc. 

" Public Records. I. pp. 169, 187, 195. Votes of Gov. and Coun- 
cil, Mass., pp 446, 471. 

" Ibid, I. p 396; II. p 89. 

^» Ibid, I. pp 54, 344, 357. 

>• Ibid, I. pp 329, 577. 

-" Votes of Gov. and Council, Mass., p 470, etc. 

" Public Records, I. pp 53, 157, 159, 172, 322, etc. 

« Ibid, I. pp 59, 316; II. p 111. 

» Ibid, I. pp 155, 188, 582. 

2^ Votes of Gov. and Council, Mass., p 498. 



58 American Committees of Safety. 

pitals, physicians and medicine for the sick and wounded/' 
The spread of small pox brought Governor and Council 
together in serious consultation and led to their directing the 
inoculation of all new troops. The matter, they admitted, 
was of high consequence, and should naturally have been 
dealt with by the General Assembly, but the necessity that 
the step be taken before the army took the field, led them to 
assume the responsibility/^ They undertook, as well, to 
care for the Connecticut men who were held prisoners by the 
British, seeing that they were suitably clothed and fed/^ 

The Governor and Council regulated to some extent the 
supplies of the private citizen. The enforcement of the 
embargo lay in their hands and permission to export and im- 
port must be obtained from them. When they felt that 
trade with any place left them with an unfavorable balance 
they prohibited it altogether.^* In the scarcity of hard money 
and the depreciation of paper currency, trade was carried on 
largely by barter and was regulated by the Governor and 
Council lest the State be deprived of any products it could 
not afford to lose. Paul Putnam, a Nantucket trader, is per- 
mitted to sell in Connecticut a certain amount of salt, coffee, 
rum, tar, etc., and to buy any articles he mav need except 
leather, iron, and not more than three firkins of lard.^^ In 
October, 1777, the Assembly forbade the purchase for sale by 
any citizen of rum, sugar, molasses, stockings, shoes, and 
other articles of food and clothing without permi^ssion from 
the Governor and Council of Safety.^*^ No one, moreover, 
could distill liquors without a similar license."^ The supply 
of salt for the State was for a long time low, and much at- 
tention was given by the Governor and Council to this need. 
Men who had salt to sell were freely permitted to bring it in 

to exchange for articles with which the State was better sup- 
s' Public Records, I. pp 24, 26; II. p 531. 
" Ibid, I. pp 165, 180. 
" Ibid, p 482. 
" Public Records, I. p 52. 
2» Public Records, I. p 578. 
30 Ibid. I. p 413. 
»^ Ibid, I. p 367. 



New England, 59 

plied. Salt was bought by the Governor and Council for the 
use of the State, and keepers of salt had it in charge as a pub- 
lic monopoly, doling it out to the towns in limited quantities 
at the order of Governor and Council."- 

The money that was necessary for the multifarious 
charges of a large military establishment was supplied from 
the treasury by orders drawn on a committee known as the 
Pay Table, which had been chosen in the April session of 
the Assembly, 1775, and was given full power to examine, 
liquidate, settle and order paid the different accounts against 
the State that related to military affairs.^^ 

All such accounts seem to have been first presented to 
the Governor and Council of Safety for approval and were 
then referred by them to the Pay Table. At one time the Gov- 
ernor and Council performed a valuable service for the con- 
tinental cause against State exclusiveness. The Treasurer had 
doubted the propriety of receiving Continental paper in pay- 
ment of the Colony's taxes, but the Governor and Council 
considered it "necessary to support the union of the colonies 
in the free circulation and credit of continental .bills," and 
ordered that they should be received in all payments, and 
notice given to that effect in the newspapers.''' Taxes came 
in but slowly, even when paid in kind, and money was hard 
to get. Like the other colonies Connecticut sought aid of the 
Continental Congress and issued paper money to supply 
immediate wants. Yet by July, 1781, the Governor and 
Council were forced to the expedient of sending four men 
to borrow money on their own personal security (evidently 
better trusted than the State's) from the inhabitants of the 
different towns. These men were to be reimbursed by the 
tax payable in May and July "as soon as collected." "" 

Passing to another field of the Council's activity, we find 
the Tories were under its supervision. The laws against 
the British sympathizers were severe in Connecticut, but 

" Public Records. I. pp 512, 324, 325 ; II. pp 203, 217. 

" Hlnman, p 170. 

»* Hinman, p 349. 

^5 Votes of the Gov. and Council, Mass.. p 529. 



6o American Committees of Sajety, 

much less cruel than in some of the other colonies. The 
actual number of Tories imprisoned does not seem to have 
been great. 

July 10, 1776, the Governor and Council published a 
proclamation against Tory spies, forbidding any stranger or 
suspected person to travel from town to town without a 
pass from some Congress, Committee of Safety or Inspec- 
tion, some magistrate or field officer, stating the place from 
which he came, his destination, and his friendly attitude tow- 
ard the States.'*' Tories that the towns thought dangerous 
were sent to the Governor and Council, who determined 
where they should be confined.'^ On giving bonds for 
peaceable behavior they were usually assigned to some town, 
sufficiently remote from their native place, within whose 
limits they were free, save that the selectmen or the local 
committee of inspection had a general oversight of their con- 
duct. Upon due repentance and taking the oath of allegiance 
they secured their f reedom.^^ As a result of this generous 
treatment hundreds retracted their hostile expressions and 
became loyal citizens who would otherwise have remained 
enemies to the end. Tories from neighboring states were 
sent to Connecticut to be cared for and were dealt with in a 
similar way. Many v/ere allowed to go home to attend to 
their business affairs on parole to return again within a cer- 
tain time, or on giving promise to respond if sent for, an 
arrangement which must in a large number of cases have 
meant complete dismissal.*" Those Tories that sought the 
protection of the British line suffered the confiscation of 
their estates, which were put by the Governor and Council in 
the hands of commissioners to be sold at public auction, or 
rented for the State. Many were bought by soldiers, at the 
end of the war, being taken in lieu of wages.^ 

»• Hlnman, p 374. The Gov. and Council exercised no judicial 
power over the Tories, leaving the town authorities to settle their inno- 
cence or guilt. 

" Public Records, pp 158, 164, 189. 
-»» Ibid, pp 57, 160, 171, 183, 327. 

[}• Gilbert, Connecticut Loyalists, Amer. Hist. Review. Jan.. 1899. 
^«» Public Records, I. pp 58, 59, 83, 152, 161. 
'" Votes of Governor and Council espec, pp 517, 520-21. 



New England. 6r 

Beside the Tories many British soldiers taken in battle 
were sent to Connecticut, and it fell to the Governor and 
Council to make provision for them till 1778, when a com- 
missary of war within the State, acting however under their 
direction, took the matter more particularly in charge." 
They were also active in forwarding an exchange of prison- 
ers whenever possible." 

Other matters of a miscellaneous character occupied the 
Governor and Council at times. Permits to individuals to 
pass to and from the State were issued. Refugees from 
Long Island were assisted to Connecticut and the local town 
committees asked to provide for those that were destitute." 
On the order of the Assembly, in accordance with a plan 
formed at a convention of New England States, the Governor 
and Council established and conducted a system of weekly 
couriers. When delegates from New England and New 
York met in consultation the Governor and Council twice 
appointed Connecticut representatives.'^ In the summer of 
1776 when Colonel Wolcott, one of the representatives of 
the State in the Continental Congress, returned home on 
account of sickness, the Governor and Council appointed one 
of their number in his place.*^ 

With the exception of New Hampshire, Connecticut 
kept her Council of Safety longer than any of the other 
states. This was due to the fact that although the surrender 
of Cornwallis practically ended the war, the British still held 
New York and it was necessary for Connecticut to maintain 
and superintend a force adequate to protect the southern and 
western frontier. The last session of the Council of Safety 
was held October 28, 1783.*' 

" Public Records, I. p 482. 

" Ibid, I. pp 87, 157, 195, 350. Votes of Gov. and Council, p 513. 
« Hinman, p 384, 387. Votes of Gov. and Council. Public Records, 
I. p 179. 

« Public Records, I. pp 132, 355; II. p 99. 

*« Ibid, I. p 355 ; Votes of Gov. and Council, p 735. 

*^ Votes of the Gov. and Council. 



62 American Committees of Safety, 



CHAPTER II.— THE MIDDLE COLONIES. 



I . New York. 



New York, as a whole, did not enter the Revohition 
wilHngly. A large part of her population were loyalists, 
composed of quiet, industrious farmers, who did not feel the 
grievance of England's commercial policy, and desired 
chiefly to be allowed to cultivate their fields in peace. The 
opposition was organized and managed largely by the mer- 
chants of New York, who hoped by resistance to break down 
the restrictions that burdened and hampered their trade. 
They were energetic, shrewd and capable men, and while 
the British government in New York delayed to put forth 
its strength to crush the resistance that was crystallizing in 
the local committees, these quickly grew into a provincial 
government that drew away the Governor's authority, con- 
trolled the city of New York, and forced the unorganized 
farming population into submission. Yet the change was not 
accomplished without a struggle, and without violence and 
bitterness. It was not, moreover, a complete success. Parts 
of New York remained throughout entirely loyal, while 
others took advantage of the first approach of British 
soldiers to declare for the King. The revolutionary govern- 
ment, therefore, occupied a much more insecure and difficult 
position than those of the New England states. 

The regular Assembly of New York was loyal. It had 
indeed chosen a committee of correspondence and had sent 
delegates to the Continental Congress, but in 1774 it refused 
by a vote of twelve to eleven to consider the proceedings of 
that body. It was adjourned April 3, 1775, to the next 
month, but was prorogued from time to time and never came 
together again. 



The Middle Colonies. 63 

In the city of New York there existed at this time a 
Committee of Sixty, formed to carry out the Non-Importa- 
tion Agreement of the Continental Congress. This Commit- 
tee issued a call to the counties for a Provincial Convention 
to meet April 20, 1775, to elect delegates to the central Con- 
gress. This Provincial Convention was followed by an- 
other, the invitation being sent this time through the city's 
Committee of Inspection. As in the former case the 
call was sent to the revolutionary committees of the counties, 
where any existed, if not, to some prominent man on the 
American side to call the freeholders of the county together 
to elect delegates to a Provincial Congress to meet in New 
York May 22, 1775, to take measures for the defense of the 
Colonv. Representatives from eleven counties responded. 

The conservative element in the Convention was large and 
was successful in preventing a vote of approval of the pro- 
ceedings of the last Continental Congress from being 
passed," although the opposition secured a measure recom- 
mending to the counties and towns the election of local com- 
mittees to carry out the will of the Continental and Pro- 
vincial Congresses.'' Radicals and conservatives struggled 
to control the Assembly, giving it no consistent policy. June 
25 it took steps regarding the enlistment of the militia,^ yet 
soon after sent a letter to its delegates in the central Con- 
gress, urging them to spare no effort to make peace with 
England or to compromise in some way this ''unnatural 
quarrel."* 

July 8, 1775, it adjourned for two weeks and appointed 
a Committee of Safety to take charge of certain matters 
during that time. The delegates from New York City ap- 
pointed three members to give together two votes and the 
representatives of the other counties each one, to give one 
vote. Any other of the delegates that wished to attend could 

^ Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 13. 
« Ibid, I. 18. 
' Ibid, I. 57. 
* Ibid, I. 59. 



64 American Committees of Safety, 

do so and could vote. New York city was given a lion's 
share in the Committee through an arrangement by which 
the counties that were unrepresented in the Congress were 
represented on the Committee by men from that city. 

The Committee of Safety was empowered by the Con- 
gress to carry into effect all its resolutions and recommen- 
dations, to open and answer all its letters, to comply with 
any requisition made by the generals of the Continental 
Army as far as it should think proper, to give directions 
to General Worcester or to the Commander-in-chief of the 
Continental troops within the Colony, provided such 
directions did not infringe the orders of the Continental 
Congress, to assign the money which the Continental Con- 
gress might send, for the payment of public debts already 
contracted, and for such further public needs as it should 
think necessary, the accounts being first audited and allowed 
by the Committee of Accounts.'' 

This Committee of Safety, it will be seen, is not a com- 
plete substitute for the Convention. It takes its place only 
as an executive body to carry out the measures that have 
been agreed on, to aid and direct the generals in the State 
and to expend the Continental money in the performance 
of these duties. It was not created to rule a State, but 
to prepare it, if necessary, for war. Its task lay almost 
entirely with military matters. This Committee ceased to 
exist when the legislature met again, but one similar was 
appointed upon its second adjournment, September 2, 1775, 
to continue in session until October 2. Besides the powers 
given its predecessor this Committee was authorized to com- 
mission field officers elected by the county committees, and 
to direct the militia, provided its orders did not interfere 
with those given by Continental officers. It was also 
empowered to issue the paper currency that had been 
voted by the Provincial Congress." 

» Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 67, 70. 
« Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 135. 



The Middle Colonies. 65 

These Committees occupied themselves with preparing 
the Colony for the approaching- conflict. The commissary 
was ordered to procure and forward to the troops food and 
clothing. Sufficient arms and ammunition were hard to ob- 
tain and the treasury was empty. Attempts were at first 
made to obtain war supplies from the Continental Congress. 
July 15 the Committee wrote to the New York delegates, 
"We have no powder, we have no blankets. For God's sake 
send us money, send us arms, send us ammunition !'" Con- 
gress refused the application, however, except to supply 
it to some extent with money and the Committee was 
thrown on its own resources. The Committee of New York 
was ordered to search the city for spare arms.^ The lead 
mines of the State were investigated,' a manufactory of 
arms was established, and a ship loaded for ports where 
gunpowder and arms were obtainable.'" - 

As a final step it was at length decided, on September 
16, 1775, to disarm the Tory inhabitants of the Colony and 
in this way to at once render harmless any opposition to the 
new provincial government and to procure a supply of arms 
at small expense. Any persons who would not sign the Gen- 
eral Association in support of the American cause, were to 
be deprived of their arms, which were to be returned to 
them when the war was over or the owner paid an ap- 
praised price. The chairmen of the County Committees, 
assisted by the militia, were to carry the measure into ef- 
fect." 

It was a hazardous move. The Tory farmers might 
have come to acquiesce in time to the new regime if they 
had been left unmolested, or at least would hardly have felt 
the impulse to organize an active resistance, but this pro- 
posal to take away their arms because they would not join 
a rebel faction against their lawful King, touched them too 

' Ibid, I. p 79. 

8 Ibid, I. p 138. 

« Ibid. I. pp 142, 148. 

10 Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 79. 

" Ibid, I. p 149. 



r 



66 American Committees of Safety. 

nearly for indifference and made the new government a 
synonym for irresponsible tyranny. Many of the loyalist 
inhabitants either hid their arms, or boldly declared they 
knew nothing of the Congress or its orders, and stood ready 
to fight and die before yielding their weapons. Those that 
submitted cherished a hatred for the Revolution, and large 
numbers of the indifferent passed into defininte opposition." 
The Provincial Congress therefore wisely passed a vote dis- 
approving the measure and abrogated it October 24, 1775." 
The following March, however, the Continental Congress, 
always hard pressed by clamors for war supplies, 
recommended to all the colonies to disarm the Tories." 
The New York Committee of Safety again set the ma- 
chinery of district and town committees in motion, in 
obedience to the request, but experience prompted 
the caution that all possible prudence and moderation be 
used. It is difficult to estimate the number of arms gained, 
but it would not seem to fairly balance the antagonism of 
the farming population.'' 

The Committee of Safety was active in raising troops, 
in commissioning officers and in sending them to guard ex- 
posed places and to erect fortifications. It found itself 
unable to use the power granted it over the Conti- 
nental officers. The Committee ordered one of these generals 
to fortify the Highlands. He refused, on the ground that 
Washington had ordered him to remain where he was and 
that no provincial authority had the right to interfere in the 
disposition of Continental troops. Until ordered by the Con- 
tinental Congress or the Commander-in-Chief he would not 
go. The Committee wisely refrained from pressing the 
point. 

The Committee kept watch of persons suspected of 
actively aiding the British, arrested them, with the aid of 

12 Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 157. Flick, Loyalism in N. 
Y., p 1)2 ff. 

" Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 184. 

" Resolution of Mar. 14, 1776. Amer. Archives, 4th Series, Vol. I. 
p 1638. 

1=* Ibid, p 1410. Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., p 151. 



The Middle Colonies. 67 

militia, and tried them/*^ Ordinary crimes against the law 
and civil cases the Committee did not touch. The courts 
under English authority were still open and were adminis- 
tered by English magistrates. The Committee saw no rea- 
son for interference. It was hoped the breach with England 
would not be final, and they were performing a duty which 
the new government had its hands too full to undertake. 
The Committee of Safety therefore discouraged any at- 
tempt of the county committees to draw such matters into 
their own hands and supported the magistrates and >con- 
stables in their offices." The situation was anomalous and 
must have sadly puzzled those who could not see why dis- 
obedience to the law was punished in one case and 
obedience in another. The Committee was on good terms 
also with the Mayor of the city, and with the officers of the 
British ships, the dread of whose guns checked the more rad- 
ical. Men were even allowed to supply these ships with 
whatever they needed, until Washington rebuked a traffic 
that not only gave the enemy food, but regular intelligence 
of the American strength and movements." 

The proceedings of the Committee were brought be- 
fore the Provincial Congress when it came together and, 
with the exception of the attempt to disarm the Tories, were 
approved.^" 

We come now to the third and fourth Committees of 
Safety of New York, which differed from their predeces- 
sors in having wider powers and in being created not mere- 
ly to sit in the recess of Congress, but to perform certain 
duties while the legislature was in session. 

December 16, 1775, the Congress appointed twelve men 
to be a Committee of Safety, of whom seven were to be a 
quorum. They were to sit until the second Tuesday of the 

^« Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. pp 136, 141, 142. 144, 153, 
etc. 

>^ Ibid, I. pp 77, 139, 147. 

^» Ibid, I. p 72, 138, etc. 

i« Sparks, Writings of Washington, III. 357, 358, 359. 

="» Journals of the New York Prov. Cong., I. pp 77, 90, 176, 181, 
183, 184. 



68 American CommHtees of Safety. 

following June unless sooner dissolved by the legislature. 
They were given standing power to execute the orders and 
resolutions of the Continental and Provincial Congresses, to 
care for all military stores, and to purchase arms and am- 
munition when they saw fit. They might apply by drafts 
on the Treasurer all money that had been appropriated by 
the Congress and appropriate and spend for contingencies 
and for secret service any sum under £5,000. If the treas- 
ury could not furnish the money, they were to answer the 
appropriations and applications intrusted to them by a vote 
of credit to be made good by the Provincial Congress. They 
were also instructed to emit the paper currency arranged 
for by the legislature, if necessary. In the recess of Con- 
gress, in any emergency, or when the use of military force 
seemed necessary they were to direct the militia or such 
Continental forces as had been put under the control of the 
Provincial Congress. They were to open and answer all 
letters of the legislature and to call it together if they felt 
occasion warranted. They were empowered to arrest and 
examine all persons refusing to obey the Continental and 
Provincial government and either discharge them or send 
them to the county committees for final trial. The Commit- 
tee was to keep an exact journal of its proceedings for the 
inspection of the legislature.^^ By subsequent resolutions 
the Committee was directed to take charge of the election 
of a new Provincial Congress to meet in May, 1776, and 
was allowed the same power in nominating and electing 
military officers and in granting and refusing commissions 
as the legislature." 

This Committee did not complete the term of life 
marked out for it. It was dissolved by the Provincial Con- 
gress and a new Committee almost identical in character 
elected March 15, 1776, to continue until May. In this 
Committee, as in the first two, the votes were to be given 
by counties and any member of the Congress that desired 

2^ Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. pp 222, 223. 
» Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. pp 222, 223. 



The Middle Colonies, 69 

could attend and vote." Its acts followed closely in char- 
acter its commission. The Congress did not examine or 
question its proceedings, and while it might have called it to- 
account at any time, as a matter of fact it was left largely to 

itself. 

The question with whom the command of the Conti- 
nental troops within the State .should rest, an example of 
the inevitable conflict between sectionalism and nationalism, 
was again agitated, and ended as before in the defeat of 
the Provincial government. When Lee entered the Prov- 
ince, the Committee of Safety which had admitted him 
much against its will" ordered him to put himself under 
its direction." The Committee relied for justification on 
a recent resolution of the Continental Congress which au- 
thorized the Provincial governments to call Continental 
troops to their aid, and on such occasions to take control 
of them.'' Considering the opposition which the Committee 
had made to Lee's entrance it is singular that it should 
have presumed to cite this act to support its claim. Lee 
acted under orders from General Washington, not at the 
request of the New York government, and the simplest dic- 
tates of military expediency showed the impossibility of^ a 
divided and alienated command. The Committee in its 
desire to prevent Lee from provoking an attack of the 
British fleet was blind to the evils its claim entailed. 
Lee, on his side, seems to have been unfamiliar^ with 
the ' resolution of Congress and to have taken it for 
granted that it placed the Continental troops at any time 
under the provincial government of the province in which 
they then were.=' He felt his hands tied and his position 
ridiculous.'' He was saved from his difficulty by a com- 
mittee which was sent from the Continental Congress, at 

« Ibid, I. p 363. 

»♦ Ibid, I. p 363. 

« Ibid, I. pp 259, 266. ^^^ 

2» Ampr Archives. 4tli Series, IV. p 1629. 

^^ t^arts Revolutionary Correspondence, I. p 136. Amer. Archives, 

* 2»^ Spark's ' Revolutionary Correspondence, I. p 140. 



70 American Committees of Safety. 

the request of the New York delegates, to inquire into the 
expediency of Lee's expedition and consult with him and 
with the Committee of Safety on the most prudent and ad- 
visable measures to adopt.""" This Committee supported Lee 
in his command and negatived at once any claim of the 
Committee of Safety to independent control. The Com- 
mittee was obliged, though with reluctance, to yield its 
point.'" A little later, in a letter to Washington regarding 
four battalions then being raised in New York for the Conti- 
nental service, the Committee spoke of these troops as act- 
ing under its "immediate command." Washington at 
once wrote to know whether he was entitled to any author- 
ity over them, and if so, how much? The Committee is 
ready this time to avoid a conflict. Immediate direction, 
it hastens to assure Washington, refers only to forming and 
equipping the troops. *'And this," adds the provident Com- 
mittee, not to exclude his "solicitude to see them speedily 
completed and armed."'' No further trouble arose, after 
this acknowledgment by the Committee itself of its own 
limitations. 

The Committee acted as unwilling paymasters of the 
militia, claiming that such work was outside its jurisdiction, 
and that it introduced too great complications in its ac-> 
counts.''' Any policy intended for the State as a whole re- 
quired the co-operation of the local committees to carry it 
into effect. Neither the Provincial Congress nor the Com- 
mittee of Safety possessed any recognized authority over 
these committees. There was a constant tendency on the 
part of the counties to assume an independence, inconvenient 
to the Provincial government. One of the local committees 
copying the central government laid an embargo upon its 
county, prohibiting the export thence of any food supplies. 
For violation of this ordinance it detained a man who 
was driving cattle to New York City. The man applied 

" Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 274. 

'0 Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. pp 277, 278. . 

" Ibid, I. p 422. 

" Ibid, I. pp 244, 276, 286. 



The Middle Colonies. 71 

for relief to the Committee of Safety, who granted him per- 
mission to go on and resolved that in its opinion no local 
body should prevent supplies from reaching New York un- 
less it had proof that they were intended for the enemy. 
The action of the county is not regarded as being beyond 
its capacity, but is condemned merely on the score of ex- 
pediency.^^ 

From the summer of 1776 to the spring of 1777 Com- 
mittees of Safety were appointed to sit in the adjournment 
of Congress or to carry on the business of the State, when, 
as frequently occurred, too few members were present to 
proceed as congress or convention. The size of these Com- 
mittees varied from seven to ten members and any one from 
the convention that was present could vote. A quick tran- 
sition was thus possible from Committee to Convention, the 
addition of a single member to the former, for example, 
making a quorum for the latter."* The Committees received 
only the most general instructions ; "to exercise such pow- 
ers as shall appear necessary for the safety of the 

State," and were regarded not so much as committees ap- 
pointed for certain duties, or as the executive department, 
but rather as a substitute government, legislative as well as 
executive. New York in this way solved the problem of 
carrying on the government, when, as often happened 
throughout the colonies, it was impossible to secure a quo- 
rum of the legislature. The Committee was empowered 
to send for absent members of the legislature and at one 
time no member could leave the neighborhood without the 
Committee's permission."" October 15, 1776, the idea for 
which the Committee was created reached its fullest devel- 
opment when it was declared that the Committee of Safety, 
twenty members being present, might do every act of which 
the Convention was capable except to form a government.^^ 

" Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. pp 267 ana 268. 
'^ Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 647. 
" Ibid, I. pp 629, 643, 648. 
3« Ibid, I. p 677. 



72 American Committees of Safety, 

The Convention seemed so well pleased with this ar- 
rangement, which put upon the shoulders of a few the bur- 
den of the government and set free the rest, that once a 
Committee of Safety was appointed it became difficult to 
ever get the other members together to form a convention. 
The Committee might summon the absent members of the 
legislature to attend, but could not enforce its summons. 
On one occasion when the Committee was striving to keep 
the legislature together it passed a resolution declaring that 
no member of the Convention should leave the neighborhood 
of Fishkill, where they were then sitting, under penalty of 
expulsion. But the Convention meeting next day nullified 
the act by lightening the penalty to a reprimand and again 
adjourned." The Committee, therefore, after unsuccessful 
attempts to gather a Convention, often ended by doing itself 
the business on which it had wished the legislature to act. 

The Committee of Safety lightened its labor by the 
employment of sub-committees. Some were chosen to 
consider and report on certain measures, others were stand- 
ing committees with special duties such as the care of the 
poor. 

During its intermittent sittings the Convention had at 
length framed a form of a government for the State, pro- 
viding for a Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Senate and 
House of Assembly. On May 8th, 1777, the Convention 
^hose a Council of Safety of fifteen men to provide for the 
welfare of the State until its government should be fully 
organized, and invested them with all powers necessary for 
the safety and preservation of the State, until the 
meeting of the new legislature, which was set for the 
first of the next July. The Council was to count the 
votes for Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and Senators 
after the election arranged for by the Convention had been 
held, and declare those that had been duly elected. It 
was then to administer the oath of office to the Governor 

" Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 801. 



The Middle Colonies, 73 

and Lieutenant-Governor, and resign the executive power 
at once into their hands/' 

On May 13 the Convention dissolved not to meet again. 
The New York Council of Safety was thus left in a posi- 
tion identical with the Council of Safety of Vermont, repre- 
senting the highest power in the State with no other au- 
thority to check or control it. The Convention had in- 
tended that it should be relieved of its duties, in a lit- 
tle over a month, but the uncertainties of the times delayed 
the elections and the response of those elected, so that it 
was not until the last of July that the Governor took the 
oath of office, and the Assembly did not meet until Octo- 

ber.^^ 

The Assembly was in session but one day. It at once 
elected a new Council of Safety after the model of the last, 
in which every member of the legislature could sit and vote, 
and which was to continue, it vaguely provided, ''so long 
as the necessities of the State require.'"" The fear of the 
British army then in New York caused the delegates to 
think rather of protecting themselves and their families than 
of serving the State. It was impossible, they wrote in ex- 
cuse to the Governor, to keep the legislature together on so 
critical an occasion." The Council of Safety therefore^ did 
not escape from legislative duties. It was also obliged 
to take an ever increasing share in the executive depart- 
ment. 

On July 30, George Clinton had left his post in the 
armv to become Governor of New York, and the Council 
of Safety at that time explicitly gave up to him all executive 
power." The newly made Governor, however, remained 
but a short time, returning soon to his troops. The im- 
possibility of the same person filling at once the po- 
sition of Brigadier-General and of State Governor, of 

3» Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. pp 910, 916, 918. 

» Ibid, I. pp 1020, 1061. 

*<> Ibid, I. p 1062 

*i Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 1062. 

" Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 1021. 



74 American Committees of Safety. 

executing the duties of a military officer and a civil 
magistrate led inevitably to the neglect of one depart- 
ment. Clinton chose to devote himself to the army and the 
Council was obliged to assume and fulfill his executive du- 
ties." The Council took up the task only gradually and 
with reluctance, at first asking the Governor's approbation 
of any step which it took independently. In time, how- 
ever, the initiative came to rest with it and it proceeded 
almost entirely on its own responsibility. 

Executive and legislative duties the Council had been 
obliged to assume. It refused, however, to take upon 
itself judicial duties, except in so far as its freedom 
as a legislature made it necessary, in accordance with a 
former vote of the Convention, to review the proceedings 
of the court-martials and either give or withhold its ap- 
proval. The Convention had erected courts of justice and 
had appointed judges to administer them. To these, there- 
fore, the Council referred all civil cases.** Some few Tories 
they examined, but the Committee for Detecting Conspira- 
cies was the body before which such cases were regularly 
carried. 

The Council voted itself twenty shillings a day remun- 
eration,*' claiming that the preceding Convention had author- 
ized such payment, although no vote to that effect appears 
on the records. It was not unreasonable, however, for 
the members to give themselves some compensation for a 
long and arduous service. 

A panic came over New York in the summer of 
1777, which even the surrender of Saratoga did not 
allay. The counties implored help or declared they must 
yield to the enemy. During the long days of uncertainty 
and peril the Council was constantly occupied in keeping 
courage in the faint-hearted by messages of exhortation and 

" Clinton had been elected Lieutenant Governor as well as Gov- 
ernor, and no arrangement had been made to vest the former office Jn 
another person. 

" Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 1010. 

*3 Ibid., I. pp 1053, 1099. The sum seems large, but as payment in 
coin is not specified, it was probably made in paper. 



The Middle Colonies. 75 

rebuke. Troops were sent when possible to the rehef of 
threatened points. Even Clinton was asked to bring his army 
to the north. The militia were backward in enHsting and in 
taking the field. The Council was obliged to order that all 
persons under sixty who had been previously exempt from 
military duty by reason of their professions or other cause, 
must now answer the draft."" The Council was also busy 
providing the army with war stores, food and clothing. 

During the troubled period of its existence the duties 
of the Council bore little resemblance to those which the 
government of a State in peace would be called upon to per- 
form. Disintegration was characteristic of the period. Each 
locality managed itself, and looked after its own affairs, 
while the central government was concerned chiefly in rais- 
ing and maintaining an efficient army in the field. Supreme 
power in the State, it was true, was theoretically lodged in 
the hands of the few men of the Council, but with no power 
to enforce their will in the counties, and with their atten- 
tion completely absorbed in providing means to repel an 
enemy, there was no danger that the power thus intrusted 
would develop into a practical tyranny over the inhabitants. 
The Council, moreover, was conservative and cautious. 
What the day demanded it provided for, but it had no desire 
to frame any new policy for the State or to attempt to en- 
force it. That it felt was to be left to the regular Assembly. 

In December the Governor issued a proclamation call- 
ing the legislature together on January 5, 1778, and the 
Council notified the members by letters. An attempt was 
made to hold a preliminary convention on December 17, to 
prepare some matters for the Assembly, but not enough 
members responded to make this practicable. At length, on 
January 5, the Senate and House of Assembly met, and the 
Council of Safety gave over its power into their hands.*^ 

" Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. p 1023. 

*^ Journals of the N. Y. Prov. Cong., I. pp 1092, 1103. 



76 American Committees of Safety. 



New Jersey. 



The first Committee of Safety of New Jersey was ap- 
pointed at the August session of the Provincial Congress, 
1775, just prior to its adjournment for a month. Eleven 
men were chosen, including the President and Vice-Presi- 
dent of the Congress, the act stating simply that they should 
be a Committee of Safety during the recess, without fur- 
ther instruction or explanation." 

The lower house of New Jersey's regular Assembly 
had favored colonial opposition, but had been hampered by 
the loyalty of the Governor and upper house, and was 
not prepared, moreover, to go so fast or so far as the more 
radical of the people desired. A Provincial Congress repre- 
senting the more progressive element in the Colony had 
therefore come into being, which was drawing to itself the 
powers of government and preparing for war. It was to 
keep this Congress in existence in some form, that its work 
might not suffer while a majority of the members took a 
recess, that the Committee of Safety was appointed. A 
second Committee was chosen at the October session and 
the practice was continued until the meeting of the Assem- 
bly under the new constitution in the fall of 1776. 

The Committee was designed as an executive to carry 
on the government when the legislature adjourned, and 
its discretion was allowed to be the guide and sanction for 
its acts. No definite commission was given it, but we can 
gain from various resolutions of the Congress or Conven- 
tion^ some idea of its power. 

It possessed equal authority with the legislature to 
commission military ofiicers and to appoint all above the 

1 Minutes of the N. J. Provincial Congress, 194. 

2 July 18, 1776, tlie N. J. Provincial Congress assumed the name of 
Convention. Amer. Archives, 4th Series, XI. 1648. 



The Middle Colonies. 77 

rank of captain.' The minute-men took oath to obey its 
commands, and any mihtia officer was answerable before 
it, in the recess of the Convention, for any disobedience 
or irregularity." 

It shared the power of the purse. The balance of 
the money, that the Treasurer had received for paying 
delegates to the central Congress, together with all that 
might hereafter come into his hands, was, the Provincial 
Congress declared, to be drawn out at the direction of the 
Provincial Congress or the Committee of Safety. When 
the legislature issued £30,000 of paper money it was to be 
spent only as the Congress and Contmittee of Safety saw 
fit and could be drawn out on their order and not other- 
wise.'* 

It was further granted authority to convene the Con- 
gress before the time appointed, if it thought best. Its 
compensation was left at first to the committees of the coun- 
ties which the members represented. In 1776 the Provincial 
legislature voted the members six shillings a day.*' 

Extensive and indefinite as the authority of the Com- 
mittee was, a sufficient safeguard existed in the fact that 
it was limited to the adjournment of the legislature, disap- 
pearing as soon as that body came together. So far from 
using its prerogatives despotically the Committee seemed 
rather to shrink from the responsibilities which its posi- 
tion imposed, and to refer to the Provincial Congress mat- 
ters over which it might have assumed jurisdiction.^ This 
was due partly to the fact that power in those days meant 
not honor and wealth, but danger and hostile criticism, and 
was therefore little courted. 

' Minutes of the N. J. Prov. Cong.. 188. 

* Ibid, 3 88, 191. 

» Ibid, 193, 252. 

« Minutes of the N. J. Prov. Cong., 253, 443. 

^ For example, it referred a dispute in the county of Salem about 
the appointment of field officers to the legislature for settlement. It 
was unwilling to appoint militia officers, writing to the Continental 
Congress that it was persuaded their appointment by the legislature 
would give much greater satisfaction. (Minutes of the N. J. Prov. Coda., 
331, 333). 



78 American Committees of Safety, 

The new constitution prepared by the Provincial Con- 
vention was adopted in the summer of 1776 and the first 
legislature elected under its provisions assembled in the 
fall. The following months saw the retreat of Washington 
through the State and the spread of panic and despair. 
Many who had been accounted faithful Whigs hastened to 
secure the protection of British arms ; the militia hung back 
from the contest and the Tories multiplied and rose into im- 
portance. The legislature, fearing that the advance of the 
British left no opportunity to prepare for action or to se- 
cure safety, dispersed. The year closed with the battles of 
Trenton and Princeton, which stemmed the tide and brought 
back courage to legislature and people. 

y The danger was not over, however. New Jersey was 
io be for some time the battle ground of the Revolution and 
the Tories were still numerous and active. In January, 1777, 
the Assembly met again and the Governor, to meet the criti- 
cal situation, advocated the election of an executive body 
with a larger authority than had been committed to any 
person by the constitution.' Circumstances demanded that 
the State put forth its hand and compel the exultant Tories 
to feel its strength, that it force them to realize that treason 
meant death, that disaffection in itself was dangerous, and 
that what the State enacted it could enforce. At this time 
suspected loyalists were dealt with by Justices of the Peace. 
These officers could summon before them any person who 
fell under their suspicion for disloyalty and tender him the 
oaths of abjuration and allegiance. If he refused to take 
them he was bound over to the next court of General Ses- 
sions of the Peace, which, if he still refused the oaths, could 
fine or imprison him.' There were two objections to this 
procedure. It was slow, and, owing to the state of the 
province, uncertain. The Tories in those districts where 
loyalists predominated would refuse to recognize the juris- 

* Mulfoifd Hist, of New Jersey, p 437. 
» Almon Remembrancer, 1776, Pt. 3, 229. 



The Middle Colonies. 79 

diction of the courts and it was difficult to bring cases before 
them, or to enforce their sentences. It was to provide 
machinery to strike down quickly and effectively the smallest 
sign of discontent and disaffection, that the government 
might struggle free from the opposition that blocked its 
path, that the new Council of Safety was created. 

On March 15, 1777, the law defining its powers was 
passed. The Governor and twelve others were constituted 
a Council of Safety. In criminal matters it was to have 
the authority of justices of peace throughout the State. 
It could arrest any persons suspected of being dis- 
affected to the government, and after examining witnesses 
against them, could commit them to jail. It was to see 
that the laws of the State were executed and, if it seemed 
best, could recommend to the Speaker to call the Assembly 
earlier than the time to which it stood adjourned. Such 
militia of the Colony as it needed were given it to 
carry out its orders, and to serve as a body-guard. Each 
member of the Council was to receive as compensation twelve 
shillings a day, and any sum not over £1,000 might be spent 
in the performance of its duties. The duration of the act 
was limited to six months."' The Council was thus a body 
authorized to sit continually for the next half year, to deal 
particularly with crime and disloyalty, and supplied with a 
body of soldiers to render its decrees effective and to free the 
members from personal fear. 

By an act of June, of the same year, the laws against 
the Tories were made more severe." Any person found at- 
tempting to reach the protection of the enemy's line with- 
out permission from a high military officer or from the Gov- 
ernor and Council of Safety was guilty of capital felony, 
and was to suffer death. The Governor and Council of Safe- 
ty could, however, offer such persons permission to enlist in 
the American army or navy and the acceptance of this con-^ 
dition constituted a full pardon. The sajiie privilege was 

10 Laws of N. J. 1777. 1st session, 3rd sitting. Chap. XXII. 
" Ibid, 1777. 1st session, 4th sitting. Chap. XXXI. 



8o American Committees oj Safety. 

granted to persons found guilty of aiding the enemy or of 
committing other acts of treason, of maintaining any au- 
thority in the State other than the American or of seeking 
to bring that authority into contempt. At the discretion of 
the Governor and Council of Safety those crimes which 
were cognizable before a jury might be dealt with in any 
other county than the one in which they were committed," 
a provision of much importance, since it enabled the State 
to remove the offender from a disaffected district where it 
would be impossible to secure a condemnation. That it 
might lead to gross unfairness and place innocent persons 
at the mercy of a prejudiced jury of Whigs was perfectly 
true, but the government was fighting for existence and 
the weapon with broadest sweep was best suited to its 
purpose, though it struck down as well what opponents 
might claim as the safeguards of constitutional liberty. 

In cases where the Governor and Council of Safety 
had called before them suspected persons who refused to take 
the oaths, if they were held too dangerous to be allowed their 
liberty, they might be imprisoned until the next Court of 
Quarter Sessions, and any house or building that the Gov- 
ernor and Council chose to use for the purpose was consid- 
ered a legal jail." The enemy having resorted to kidnapping 
many on the American side and conveying them into its 
camp, the Governor and Council of Safety were authorized 
to retaliate, and to arrest and imprison as many Tories as 
might be necessary to induce the enemy to release those 
Whigs that they had taken. ^* An absolute authority was thus 
granted over those inhabitants of the State, whose only fault 
was a difference of opinion which might have found expres- 
sion in no overt act. Such persons might be arrested at the 
will of the Governor and Council of Safety and imprisoned 
indefinitely. It seems a provision at once despotic and un- 

>' Laws of New Jersey, 1777, 1st session, 4th sitting, Chap. XXXI., 
Sec. 5. 

" Ibid, Sec. 6. 
^* Ibid, Sec. 12. 



The Middle Colonies, 8i 

necessary. The result of such retaHation must always be 
doubtful. The knowledge of the suffering of many of the 
Tories might never reach the ears of the English. If it did, 
it was far more likely to provoke further reprisals than con- 
ciliation. The measure would serve also to drive hesitating 
Tories to find safety with the enemy. Such legislation was 
the outgrowth of fear and hatred, not of statesmanlike judg- 
ment of the situation. It was further provided that the 
Governor and Council of Safety should send within the ene- 
my's lines the families of those who had already sought 
refuge in its camp. United States troops were ordered to 
assist them, as the Provincial militia had been before. Per- 
mission was granted to the Council of Safety, when it was 
impossible to secure a quorum, to call in any Judge of Com- 
mon Pleas or Justice of the Peace, who for the time being 
was to be considered to all intents and purposes a regular 
member.^^ 

September 20, the Council of Safety having expired 
with the act that framed it, a new one was created to last 
until the end of the next session of the Assembly, an un- 
usually strong executive being still necessary in the opinion 
of the heads of the State. The Councillors were made as be- 
fore. Justices of the Peace in criminal cases, and in addition 
it was left optional with them whether they should take 
charge, in that capacity, of purely civil matters. Some 
power over the army was granted in the privilege of supply- 
ing any vacancy that might occur among the officers, their 
appointments to be subject to the approval of the next As- 
sembly. The authority over the Tories was retained and 
supplemented by directions to deprive them of their arms, 
paying for them an appraised value.'^ 

The activity of this Council was found so beneficial to 
the State that it was felt necessary to continue it at the De- 
cember sitting of the legislature. Its commission was, 

i« Laws of N. J., 1777, 1st session, 4th sitting, Chap, XXXI., Sees. 
4 and 7. 

'• Laws of N. J., 1777, 1st session, 5th sitting, Chap. XL. 



82 American Committees of Safety. 

however, altered a little. It was forbidden to deal at 
all with cases of a civil nature and the provision directing 
retaliation for kidnapping was repealed. The Governor and 
Council of Safety might exempt militia-men from duty, and 
were to make temporary provision for wounded soldiers or 
for the families of those that had lost their lives in the ser- 
vice. Two thousand pounds were granted them for ex- 
penses." 

In April and in June, 1778, this Council of Safety was 
continued.'' It expired in October of that year and was not 
again renewed. 

The New Jersey Council of Safety differed from those 
of the other colonies in that its energies were focused 
more directly in the judicial department. It was created 
to try criminals and the disaffected, not to care for sup- 
plying and organizing the troops or to act as a substi- 
tute executive, there being already a capable Governor. 

Turning to consider the actual work of the Council 
of Safety, we find that it sat in each of the different counties 
in turn, taking thus the central government into the locali- 
ties and bringing it visibly before every inhabitant. It did 
not wait till cases were brought before it, but ordered certain 
persons whom it could trust to make lists of all dan- 
gerous and disaffected men in their county, who were then 
arrested by the militia and brought to the Council. That 
body did not try the case and pronounce final judgment. 
Instead it served to secure the persons of the Tories, to sift 
the cases by a preliminary examination, to see if any charge 
was made against them, and to hold the accused in prison 
till the next Court of Quarter Sessions, before which they 
were tried. In a large number of cases the work consisted 
only in binding the disaft'ected to the cause by administering 
to them the oaths of abjuration and allegiance." The Coun- 

" Ibid, 1777, 2nd session, 1st sitting, Chap. VI. 

i» Ibid, 1778, 1st sitting, 2nd session, Chap. XX., and 3rd sitting, 
2nd session. Chap. XXXI. 

i» Minutes of the Council of Safety of N J., 8, 11, 13, 16, 22, 23, 25, 
etc. 



The Middle Colonies, 83 

cil of Safety, however, took cognizance of those men who 
were accused of selHng goods at a higher price in Conti- 
nental paper than hard money, tried and imposed a fine upon 
them if guilty.*^ 

The Council of Safety was tireless in the execution of 
its duty. That it was successful is shown by the fact 
of its being continued from session to session as an essen- 
tial department of the government. The Assembly found 
its work both necessary and 'Very beneficial." In 1780 
Governor Livingston wrote, "The Tories are grown so im- 
pudent that nothing but another Council of Safety will re- 
duce them to order.'"'' The opinion of those persecuted 
can be easily imagined. James Allen, a conservative Penn- 
sylvanian, writing in the period, said : "No country has 
ever been more harassed than Jersey. Those who are called 
Tories, though they have been passive, having been plun- 
dered and imprisoned without mercy."" 

»» Minutes of the Council of Safety of N. J., pp 196, 202. 212, etc. 
»^ Memoir of Gov. Livingston by Ttieodore Sedgewick, p 281. 
2* James Allen Diary, Penn. Mag., IX. 280. 



84 American Committees of Safety, 



3. Pennsylvania. 



Pennsylvania, as the largest and most influential of 
the Middle States, was an object of solicitude to the leaders 
of the Revolution. Her acts would be copied by the rest of 
the group, and it was necessary that her conservative Qua- 
ker population should be won over skillfully and carefully 
to the side of armed resistance and eventually to independ- 
ence. 

The Assernbly of the Province showed itself not unwill- 
ing to join the American cause. In 1775 the Governor was 
quietly pushed aside and disregarded. The Assembly, 
guided by Dickenson and other moderate Whigs, approved 
the proceedings of the Continental Congress and chose dele- 
gates to represent them there. They recognized the ''Asso- 
ciators," as the volunteer militia called themselves, and 
voted to supply them with arms and ammunition. In fact 
Pennsylvania, if moving more slowly than Massachusetts 
or Virginia was in the same stream, and it seemed at this 
time as if the whole population of the State might be swung 
into the full tide of the movement, without rendering neces- 
sary any vital change of government. 

The Governor being put aside because he disapproved 
of the attitude of the Assembly, that body appointed a Com- 
mittee of Safety to take his place. The suggestion came 
from the Committee of Inspection and Observation of 
the city of Philadelphia, which represented the more 
radical elements in the colony. In a petition to the 
Assembly it recommended the appointment of a Com- 
mittee of Safety, with discretionary powers, to act for 
the defense of the State "in the present time of dan- 
ger and uncertainty.'" The Assembly accepted the rec- 

^ Amer. Archives, 4th Series, II 1167-70, 



The Middle Colonies, 85 

ommendation, which committed it still further to the 
revolutionary movement, and appointed the Committee June 
30, 1775. It consisted of twenty-five members, of whom 
seven were a quorum. It was empowered to call out 
the militia if necessary, to pay them and to furnish them 
with arms and other equipments. It was to provide for 
the defense of the Province against insurrection and inva- 
sion and encourage and promote the manufacture of salt- 
petre. To accomplish these ends it was authorized to 
draw orders on the Treasurer for such sums of money as it 
should need.'' 

The Committee of Safety was created merely to take 
charge of the military establishments of the Colony. None 
of the regular executive duties which the Governor exercised 
in times of peace were given it. Yet the control of the 
military force of the Colony and the authority to draw upon 
the treasury to support it brought the Committee necessarily 
a commanding position. The Committee was reappointed 
in October, 1775, with the addition of some new members, 
and continued until the middle of the next July, when it 
was superseded by a Council of Safety appointed by a Pro- 
vincial Convention. 

The Committee of Safety, after its creation, proceeded 
at once to provide the militia with arms and other war 
stores. The arms and ammunition that were already in the 
Province were inspected and taken under the charge of the 
Committee of Safety, through whose order alone they could 
be obtained." By thus controlling the war supplies the local 
committees and the Associators were brought necessarilv 
into dependence upon the central Committee. Manufacto- 
ries for powder and saltpetre were established, cannon were 
cast and the counties employed in making firelocks. Ships 
were sent to trade with the French and Spanish West Indies 
for arms and the captains were insured by the Committee 

« Col, Rec. of Penn., I. 280. 

» Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 286, 288, 297, 299, 346, etc. 



86 American Committees of Safety, 

against the loss of their vessels/ Agents were appointed to 
supply the troops with clothing and food and the Committee 
settled the pay and the rations of the men. 

To provide money for the Committee, the Assembly 
had issued bills of credit to the amount of £35,000,° but this 
proved insufficient and the Committee was obliged to bor- 
row from the Continental Congress, until more was voted.* 

Representing as the Assembly and its Committee of 
Safety did the moderate section of the population the Tories 
did not suffer so much under its administration as in other 
colonies. The legislature had given the Committee no 
power to examine and try suspects, but it claimed the right 
from a recommendation of the Continental Congress.^ The 
local committees had previously exercised this authority, and 
in a test case it was not given up by the Committee of Phila- 
delphia without a warm debate, but it finally complied 
with the wish of the Committee of Safety and recognized 
its jurisdiction.^ In other counties, however, the local com- 
mittees were allowed to deal with the suspects with a freer 
hand. 

The Continental Congress often referred persons it 
held dangerous to the cause to the Committee of Safety for 
examination and punishment,** and the latter further served 
the Congress by appointing agents at its request, to arrange 
exchanges of prisoners.'" The connection of the Committee 
of Safety with the Congress was naturally close and the 
latter made the Committee its agent in many matters. 

The Assembly left the Committee with a free hand. It 
asked for an account of its proceedings when it chose, 
but this was of rare occurrence. 

* Ibid, 411, 421, 425, 459, 479, 642. 
» Ibid, 282. 

• Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 605, 608. 

^ Passed Oct. 6, 1775. That it be recommended to the several Pro- 
vincial Assemblies or Councils and Conventions, or Committees of Safety, 
to arrest and secure every person in their respective colonies whose go- 
ing at large may in their opinion endanger the safety of the colony or 
the liberties of America. (Amer. Archives, 4th Series, II., 1891.) 

8 Col. Rec. of Penn., X. p. 358. Christopher Marshall Diary, pp 45, 

» Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 470. 472, 533, 581. 603, 639. [46. 

" Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 563, 564, 595, 596. 



The Middle Colonies, 87 

The Committee was largely occupied in organizing the 
militia and bringing it into shape for effective use. Rules 
were prepared for its government and discipline and for 
establishing the rank of the officers." The resolutions of the 
Continental Congress regulating the choice of officers, the 
accoutrement of the soldiers and the formation of minute- 
men were dispersed through the counties and the local com- 
mittees were requested to make return of the number of 
Associators and Non-Associators in their district.'"^ 

The Committee commissioned the militia officers and 
appointed all above the rank of captain. When battalions 
for the Continental service were organized in the State, it 
recommended field officers for them to the Continental Con- 
gress and commissioned the lower officers." The enlistment 
of soldiers lay with the Assembly, but the Committee occa- 
sionally would direct the force of the Province to be slightly 
increased." 

With the militia rested the ultimate strength of the gov- 
ernment, and in their ranks were the most radical of the 
population. It was impossible for them to view with equa- 
nimity the Quakers, who refused to arm themselves or in 
any way contribute to the cause. If the Americans were 
successful these non-combatants would win the fruits of the 
struggle without the labor. If the English subdued the re- 
bellion they would be innocent of all participation. Peti- 
tions therefore poured in upon the Assembly and Commit- 
tee of Safety to lay the Quakers under some direct contribu- 
tion and commit them definitely to the cause. A petition of 
this kind from the privates of the Philadelphia companies 
illustrates the arrogant and insubordinate spirit in which 
the militia, conscious of their strength, advised the govern- 
ment. They refuse to sign the rules and regulations made for 
them by the Committee of Safety because they hold it con- 
trary to the true intent of legislation to oblige one part of a 

" Ibid, 308, 318, 391. 

" Ibid, 3138. 

i» Ibid, X. 432. 442, 446, 449, 450. 

i« Ibid, X. 464, 467. 



88 American Committees of Safety. 

community to do military duty while the other does noth- 
ing ; because they fear that they may be used as a standing 
army by those now in charge of the government to destroy 
the liberties of the Colony ; because they denied the right of 
the Committee of Safety to enact these rules, legislative 
power being derived only from the people and the Commit- 
tee being in no way dependent on that sovereign body ; lastly 
because they would not submit to any law which did not bear 
equally on every inhabitant of the Province." 

The reasoning is confused enough and the allusions to 
natural rights, with which the eighteenth century American 
loved to prop a claim, are irrelevant, because in plain terms 
what the soldiers had to say was this, ''Make the Quakers 
support this war, or we refuse you obedience." The fear 
that the government would entrap them into becoming un- 
willing agents of its tyranny, comes somewhat strangely 
from men who felt themselves strong enough to tyrannize 
over that government and dictate its policy. Yet in spite of 
the inexpediency of the demand, and the insult to authority 
it conveyed, it had to be respected. If the militia would 
not obey the government, the government must yield to the 
militia and the radicalism that it represented. The Com- 
mittee of Safety therefore petitioned the Assembly to tax 
the Non-Associators to an amount equal to the expense and 
loss of time incurred by those that served in the army.'^ The 
Assembly hesitated, unwilling to alienate the large conserva- 
tive element from which it drew its support, yet afraid to 
antagonize the militia. It at length yielded to the latter and 
imposed the tax. 

Besides organizing the militia and appointing the offi- 
cers the Committee created a naval armament for the Col- 
ony. Ships were bought or built and armed and manned 
for the defense of the harbor. Officers for the ships were 
appointed and commissioned and a Commod ore chosen to 

" Pennsylvania Packet, Oct. 9, 1775. 
i« Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 349, 492. 



The Middle Colonies. 89 

command the fleet." The ships were under the direction of 
the Commodore, Committee of Safety and Assembly, and 
were to leave no station assigned them without permission 
from one of these three. 

The navy proved as difficult for the Committee to man- 
age as the army. The radicals in Pennsylvania who desired 
independence and wished to bring the Colony to their view 
were impatient at the conservatism of the Assembly. If the 
result was to be accomplished they felt it could not be 
through the present legislature in which the Quakers and 
the moderate Whigs, like Dickenson, were intrenched. The 
leaders were looking forward in the spring of 1776 to wrest- 
ing the power from the Assembly by the creation of a Pro- 
vincial Convention to be made up of their representatives, 
which should bring Pennsylvania into line with the more 
advanced colonies. The outcome of this plan will be seen 
a little later. The militia of the navy, in sympathy with the 
advanced party took every opportunity to discredit and op- 
pose the Assembly and its Committee of Safety. That the 
Committee did not trust them is shown by the fact that it 
held it necessary to send a delegation from its number to 
the fleet, to be upon the spot to enforce its orders and to 
summarily suspend any disobedient officer." 

About the first of May 1776, the Pennsylvania ships had 
an engagement with the British ship ''Roebuck," in which 
the latter was allowed to escape, it was commonly thought, 
too easily. The officers of the fleet, anxious to throw the 
blame on other shoulders, made the already unpopular Com- 
mittee the scapegoat, declaring it guilty of negligence in not 
furnishing the fleet with sufficient ammunition, a charge cer- 
tain to be taken up and used effectively against it by the 
Philadelphia radicals.''' 

A further example of insubordination was furnished 
when the Committee decided to appoint Captain Davison as 

" Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 456. 
'• Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 559. 
»» Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 582. 



90 American Committees of Safety. 

Commodore of the fleet. The choice was unpopular with the 
other captains, because they had been passed over in favor 
of a younger man, and a memorial was sent by them to the 
Committee expressing their objections, and their determina- 
tion not to obey the new commander/" The Committee at 
first stood firm and issued a commission to Davison, and in- 
structions/^ But it was not strong enough to maintain 
its position. There was being held at this time a confer- 
ence, called by the Philadelphia Committee of all the local 
committees of the Province, who represented the extremists 
and which was arranging for the election of a provincial con- 
vention to take the place of the Assembly. This conference 
at once espoused the cause of the officers, as those gentle- 
men without doubt expected, and recommended the Com- 
mittee of Safety to issue no orders to Davison as Commo- 
dore of the fleet.^^ The Committee without basis for resist- 
ance among the people or in the militia was forced to acqui- 
esce. It represented a lost cause — armed resistance without 
independence. It had alienated the Quakers by going too 
far, and the radicals by not going far enough. The extrem- 
ists possessing the militia had matters in their own hands. 
The Committee therefore carried out the recommendations 
of the Conference." A day or two later it summoned Cap- 
tain Dougherty, one of the protesting officers, and placed 
him in command of the fleet.'* 

20 Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 606. Amer. Archives, 4th Series, VI. 906. 
The petition shows in how little respect the Committee was held. The 
captains positively declare that they will not obey any commander so 
irregularly set over them. "And lest this Board," they go on to say, 
"should imagine that your Remonstrants intend to resign their com- 
missions. In case such an appointment should take place, they would 
Inform this Board that as the safety of their country appears to re- 
quire it they mean to continue in the service, and to appeal to the jus- 
tice of their country." 

21 Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 608. 

22 Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 615. 
2» Ibid, X. 616. 

2* Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 617. The case of Captain Davison came 
before the Council of Safety appointed by the new Convention when 
It met. The Council recognized the danger of sanctioning any act of 
Insubordination as fully as the Committee, now that it occupied Its 
seat. It was declared that the charges brought against Davison were 
of a frivolous character and discovered a spirit of licentiousness among 
the other officers Inconsistent with their duty to their country, and un- 
justifiable on military principles. The Council thus repudiated the 
former declarations of its party and admitted the previous govern- 



The Middle Colonies. 91 

The Committee issued an address to the piibHc to jus- 
tify its appointment of Davison and the document shows the 
difficulty of its position. The Committee, it says, "are not 
so bhnded by Self Love, or so lost in their own importance, 
as not to perceive that both Confidence and Authority are 
considerably shaken and impaired ; not resting" on a founda- 
tion altogether unpopular, their existence has been beheld 
with jealousy and by an opposition, formed on mistaken and 
unworthy principles their conduct in almost every branch of 
the public service has been traduced and villified. After accu- 
mulated mortifications, why they still continue to keep their 
seats, ought to be accounted for." It then explains that Da- 
vison was appointed because of his competence and at the ex- 
press desire of the officers for a man from their own num- 
ber, ''even though he should be the youngest among them." 
They deprecate the interference of the Conference as it 
meant the division and weakening of power at a critical 
time and the destruction of its own authority. The members 
only continue in their office, they go on to state, because at 
present no body of men could be appointed to take their 
places, and because they may, "fettered in their authority as 
they are, still render some small services to the country" 
while they "look forward with pleasure to the short period of 
a few weeks, which is to deprive them of the seats they have 
held, of late so much to the dissatisfaction of some men, and 
uneasiness to themselves."''" 

Their service was nearly over when this was written. 
The Convention decided upon by the conference of commit- 
tees was elected and met in Philadelphia in July. The con- 
servative elements had refused to participate in the elections 
and the members returned were of the most advanced party. 
The Convention had been merely called to form a new con- 
stitution for the State, which the extremists had decided on 

ment to have been in the right. Policy demanded Davison's dismissal 
however, and it was given, on the ground that the officers did not have 
the confidence in him necessary to a successful command. (Col. Rec. (f 
Penn.. X. 701, 702.) 

^ Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 627, et seq. 



92 American Committees of Sajety, 

as necessary to overthrow the old government. It pro- 
ceeded, however, to take upon itself the administration of 
the State. ^'^ The Assembly had been paralyzed by the with- 
drawal of the radical elements from attendance. A quorum 
could not be procured and the Assembly had adjourned until 
August. Its days of authority were over forever. It came 
together for a little time in the fall and passed a few resolu- 
tions in opposition to the Convention, but never met after- 
wards. With the Assembly died its Committee." 

The power of the State lay now with the Convention. 
July 23, it elected twenty-six men to form a Council of 
Safety, fifteen from Philadelphia and vicinity and one from 
each of the other counties. Every member was obliged to 
renounce his allegiance to the King and promise support to 
the American arms before entering office. The old Commit- 
tee of Safety was ordered to lay its accounts and proceed- 
ings before the Convention. It complied and stepped quietly 
aside to make room for the new government and its 
officers.^' 

There seems little doubt that if the extremists could 
have checked their impatience Pennsylvania would have 
joined the Revolution, in time, heartily and wholly, and that 
abrupt and radical change in the government would have 
been unnecessary. This change brought with it a train of 
evils from which Pennsylvania suffered throughout the war 
and which rendered her unable to successfully defend her- 
self when the time of trial came. The new constitution was 
hastily formed and never submitted to the approval of the 
people. It had many grave defects and was exceedingly 
unpopular. It caused the withdrawal of the moderate Whigs 
from the support of the government and it was nearly im- 
possible to organize the departments of the State under it. 
When the members of the Assembly elected under the con- 

" p. L. Ford. Pennsylvania's First Constitution, Political Science 
Quarterly, X. 426 fE. 

" Amer. Archives, Stti Series, II. pp 542-546. James Allen, Diary, 
Penn. Mag., X. 188. 

2« Amer. Archives, 5th Series, II. p 5. 



The Middle Colonies. 93 

stitiition came together in the fall of 1776, the more moder- 
ate representatives, unable to secure the alterations in the 
constitution which they desired, withdrew and rendered the 
Assembly thereby as helpless as the old legislature had been 
in the summer."" The provincial government was thus 
brought to a standstill at a most critical time. The Conti- 
nental Congress was obliged to interfere and threaten that 
they would take the government of Pennsylvania into its 
own hands if the inhabitants were not able to provide for 
it themselves.'" This brought forth some show of unity and 
a few steps were taken to call out the Associators, but the 
legislature was scarcely heard of, or noticed until the elec- 
tion of new delegates the following February to take the 
place of those that had withdrawn, made it possible to or- 
ganize with more success.'^ 

The Council of Safety therefore occupied a more diffi- 
cult position even than its predecessor, the Committee of 
Safety. The Assembly could not be relied upon to give it 
aid or direction. It had to depend upon itself and upon the 
support of the Continental Congress. It had opposed to it 
a large part of the Colony composed of the Tories, the 
Quakers, and the more moderate Whigs. It owed its crea- 
tion to the revolutionary party and to remain in power must 
keep on good terms with the army. This Council of Safety 
was in existence from July, 1776 until the middle of March » 
1777. At that time the Supreme Executive Council in which 
the constitution placed the executive authority of the gov- 
ernment, having been organized, took control of affairs. 

The acts of the Council bore a close resemblance to 
those of the preceding Committee, the same kind of duties 
falling to its charge. It procured war stores for the 
troops and sent agents into the counties to collect clothing, 
blankets, etc. Persons suspected of practices against the 

29 P. L. Ford. Pennsylvania's First Constitution, Political Science 
Quarterly, X. James Allen, Diary, Penn. Mag., X. 
'» Diary of James Allen, Penn. Mag., IX. 
31 Ibid. 



94 American Committees of Safety. 

American cause were examined and punished and 
prisoners of war were taken into custody. The execu- 
tion of the orders of the Council was put into the hands of 
the field officers, and the rough and lawless militia exasper- 
ated and further alienated the Non-Associators. James 
Allen in his diary gives a picture of the condition of affairs. 
'To describe the present state of the Province of Pennsyl- 
vania," he says, ''would require a volume. It may be divided 
into two classes of men, viz : those that plunder and those 
who are plundered. No justice has been administered, no 
crimes punished for nine months. All power is in the hands 
of the associators, who are under no subordination to their 
officers."''' He was himself arrested and brought before the 
Council, because the people, knowing him to be a man of in- 
fluence in his country, who was opposed to the radicals, 
looked to the Council to put him on parole, and he was ac- 
cordingly obliged to take oath before the Council to do or 
say nothing against the American cause.'* 

The courts of justice being unorganized, the Council 
occasionally considered ordinary infractions of the laws of 
the State. Thus it tried a forger and sentenced him to 
States prison, and again, it assumed jurisdiction in a case 
of assault and battery."" 

The Council took over all money in the hands of the 
Committee of Safety'" and with this and loans from the Con- 
tinental Congress paid the military expenses of the gov- 
ernment. The Council took every means to urge the reluc- 
tant militia into the field. Bounties were offered and the 
Council proposed to provide generously for the families of 
those who would march to join Washington in New Jer- 
sey." Harsh measures were also tried. Any Associator of 
Philadelphia who had not marched with the militia to New 
Jersey or who did not enroll himself as one of the city 

!! James Allen's Diary, Penn. Mag., IX. 196. 

" Ibid, 193, et seq. 

s» Col. Rec. of Penn., X. 696, 723. 

3" Ibid, X. 674. 

8^ Ibid, XI. 22. 



The Middle Colonies, 95 

guards was to be subject to all the fines aijd penalties of a 
Non-Associator.'' The militia were quartered upon those 
who refused to serve and troops were sent into the counties 
to disarm all who would not enter the army, and to seize 
and treat as an enemy any one who opposed the execution 
of this measure.^'* 

When Philadelphia was threatened the Council was 
determined that nothing should be considered but the de- 
fense of the town. Shops and schools were closed, and 
every able-bodied citizen was compelled to labor on the forti- 
fications or to provide a substitute, under penalty of confis- 
cation of his goods."" 

But neither its endeavors nor those of the Assembly j 
and Supreme Executive Council after it could keep I 
Howe from the capital. The city fell September 26, 1777, 
and the government moved to Lancaster, and attempted 
to rule the State from that place. The time had arrived 
as provided in the constitution for the dissolution of 
the legislature and the election of a new one, but it was im- 
possible, in the distressed and disorganized condition of the 
State to hope that elections could be held. With a hostile 
army in possession of the capital the situation demanded not 
a deliberative assembly but a dictator. The people, how- 
ever, were not ready to receive such a manifest violation of 
the rights of freedom and equality as the elevation of a sin- 
gle man to absolute power. The Assembly therefore com- 
promised by appointing, October 13, a group of dictators, 
tmder the name of a Council of Safety. It consisted of the 
Supreme Executive Council and nine others. It was 
given full power to promote and provide for the preservation 
of the Commonv/ealth by such regulations and ordinances 
as seemed best to it. Any person infringing these ordin- 
ances or the laws of the State relating to traitors or any one 
who, from his general conduct and conversation was 

3» Ibid, X. 691. 

'» Ibid, XI. 100, 0:. 

*o Ibid, XI. 46, 60. 



96 American Committees of Safety, 

deemed inimical to the cause of liberty might be summarily 
seized by the Council or its agents, imprisoned and pun- 
ished either capitally or otherwise as the Council saw fit. 
It was enabled to regulate the prices of such articles as it 
needed and to compel a sale of them when wanted. The 
Council was to continue until the end of the next session of 
the legislature, but the Supreme Executive Council was given 
discretionary power to dissolve it before then, if it saw 
fit." 

The Council thus possessed absolute power as far as the 
Assembly could bestow it. It was without check. It could 
imprison and put to death its enemies at will and confiscate 
their goods. The life and property of every citizen of the 
State rested in its hands. It was intended to subdue the 
Tory opposition and compel the obedience of the militia ; to 
forcibly bring the disorganized and decentralized province 
into closer dependence upon and better co-operation with 
the central government. 

The Council followed out the purpose for which it 
was created and the province during its short adminis- 
tration was under a reign of terror. Those who had not 
sworn allegiance to the State were specially levied upon to 
supply arms, accoutrements, blankets, shoes, etc., for the 
army," and the commissioners appointed to collect them 
might use force if necessary, a provision that laid the Non- 
Associators open to the violence and license of the soldiery.** 
Prices at which goods should be sold to the Commissary of 
the army were arranged by the Council, a certain source of 
irritation to every farmer and manufacturer, since the de- 
preciation of the paper currency had caused an enormous 
rise in prices." Furnishing the King's armies with pro- 
visions or giving them any aid was punished with death.**" 
All persons that joined the King's army or resorted to any 

" Col. Recs. of Penn., XI. 325, et seq. 

" Ibid, XI. 328, 339. 

" Ibid, XI. 352, 

" Ibid, XI. 334, 336, 338. 

" Ibid, XI. 327. 



The Middle Colonies, 97 

city in its possession suffered confiscation of their estates.'" A 
more summary method of punishing engrossers than that 
provided by the ordinary course of the common law was or- 
dered."' Those who owed fines for refusing mih.tary service 
and would not pay, were obliged to see the amount levied 
from a forced sale of their goods. 

Thus the Council drew the reins of autocratic powers 
sharply over the State, to force it to obedience, that the new 
government might be carried past the crisis. Constitutional 
scruples waited on the primary necessities of safety and suc- 
cess, which were to justify (how completely it is hard to 
tell) the harsh means employed. The Council went further 
in its legislation than the Assembly altogether approved. 
At its meeting after the dissolution of the Council, while it 
was willing to sanction the greater number of the Council's 
acts, it disapproved and repealed those relating to the col- 
lection of arms by force and the fixing of prices.*^ 

The Council existed from October 13th to December 
6th, 1777. The progress of the enemy was then sufficiently 
checked for the elections to be held, and the Supreme Ex- 
ecutive Council issued a proclamation declaring the Council 
of Safety dissolved.*^ 

" Ibid, XI. 329. 

«T Ibid, XI. 337. 

" Penn. Archives, First series, Vol. VI. p 73. 

«» Col. Rec. of Penn., Vol. IX. p 353. 



American Committees of Safety. 
4. Delaware. 



In the absence of records relating to the colony of Dela- 
ware it is impossible to deal with its Committee of Safety 
at any length.^ A Committee of Safety was appointed by the 
Assembly at some time during the summer of 1775, and 
probably continued until the first legislature under the new 
constitution came together/ There were also Committees of 
Safety for the different counties but it is uncertain whether 
these county committees were composed of subdivisions of 
the provincial Committee or whether they were elected by 
the freeholders of each county." It is also impossible to tell 
exactly what the functions of the Committee of Safety were. 
Sharf speaks of an important meeting of the Committee 
held at Dover on September 11, 1775, at which it was 
employed in perfecting the military organization of the three 
counties.* It was probably occupied chiefly in raising 
and equipping the army as in the other colonies. 

The Assembly under the State constitution met Octo- 
ber 28, 1776. It was the duty of the House and Legislative 
Council to elect a Governor and Privy Council, but for some 
reason this was not done before their first adjournment. The 
House therefore proposed to the Council that the two should 
choose a Council of Safety to act as executive during the 
recess. The Council concurred and fifteen men were ap- 
pointed on November 7, 1776, five being taken from each of 
the three counties.^ 

This Council of Safety evidently acted in sections, the 
representatives of each county assuming control over their 
own district,'^ although for some purposes they may have 
met as one body. The Council lasted until January 10, 1777, 
when the legislature met again and appointed the President 
and Council for the State. 

1 Neither the Journals of its legislature nor of its Committee of 
Safety during this period are in existence. No official records of 
Delaware between 1735 and 1776 are known to be extant. 

2 Sharf s Delaware, p 223, et seq. 

* Ibid, p 223. 

* Ibid, p 225. 

* Minutes of the Council of Delaware, pp 22, 23, 24. The Journal.? 
of the Council of Safety have not been preserved. 

« Ibid, p 75. 



The Middle Colonies, 99 



5. Maryland. 



In Maryland the conservative character of the people, 
and the prosperity they had enjoyed during the colonial 
period, made the transition from English supremacy to inde- 
pendence gradual. There was no sudden wrenching away 
from the old government and assumption of complete con- 
trol by revolutionary bodies. The Governor allowed the 
Assembly to die by repeated prorogations, and the pro- 
vincial conventions, in succeeding sessions, slowly took up 
its powers. The Governor remained in the Province, an hon- 
ored and respected officer, though with ever diminishing au- 
thority until the spring of 1776, when for the sake of the 
public peace and safety, the Convention courteously asked 
his withdrawal. Even then the royal government was ac- 
knowledged as the permanent and established form, and the 
Convention as occupying a place of power, only for the time, 
to lead the Colony through a temporary trouble. Not until 
the Declaration of Independence did Maryland realize that 
the old regime was dead and a new government for the State 
must be framed. 

The Governor lost first his military power, for the Con- 
vention, while willing that he should perform his civil duties, 
took to itself the control of the Colony's militia. The 
Convention which met in July, 1775, pledged itself to repel 
force with force and to support the American opposition. 
All freemen were directed to enlist in the militia, forty com- 
panies of minute men were organized, and a Council of 
Safety was elected by the Convention to command them.' 

The Council was composed of sixteen members, eight 
from the Eastern and eight from the Western Shore. It 
was to direct and regulate the operations of the minute men 

* Proceedings of the Md. Conventions, p 19, et seq. 



loo American Committees of Safety. 

and militia, and appoint and commission all officers. It 
might suspend any officer, or displace him after a full hear- 
ing and appoint and commission another in his stead. In 
the recess of the Convention it could call minute men into 
service in Maryland or the neighboring colonies, but the 
militia could only be ordered to serve within their 
own province. It was to draw for all expenses on the- 
treasurer. A general power to carry out the orders of the 
Convention, and to strengthen and defend the Province in 
whatever way seemed best was added. The limit of 
its existence was set at the meeting of the next Convention 
to which it was to render an account of its proceed- 
ings. The members of the Council from either Shore might 
meet separately, and were enabled in such cases to grant 
commissions for court-martials, to hear and determine high 
and dangerous ofifenses, and in case of immediate and press- 
ing danger to call out the militia or minute men. It was 
strongly recommended, however, that this latter power be 
used as infrequently as possible, and be left rather to the 
joint meetings. To prevent abuse of authority four mem- 
bers from either Shore were to be ineligible to the succeed- 
ing Council.^ 

In January, 1776, a second Council was appointed with 
similar powers, to sit until the end of the session of the next 
Convention, thus retaining the Council as executive while the 
legislature was in session. The number was reduced from 
sixteen to seven. Its duties were enlarged to include the 
trial of suspects sent by the county committees. These it 
was to hold in custody till the next Convention or banish at 
once if it saw fit. It was further directed to provide the 
troops with tents, camp utensils, provisions, etc. Fourteen 
shillings a day were granted its members as compensation.* 

The following Convention in electing a new Council 
increased the number to nine, a precedent which was fol- 
lowed in subsequent appointments.^ 

2 Proceedings of the Md. Conventions, p 24, et seq. 
' Ibid, 117, 118. 
♦ Ibid, p 161. 



The Middle Colonies, loi 

The Convention of June, 1776, and the Constitutional 
Convention of August of that year each chose Councils of 
Safety. 

The first Assembly of the State of Maryland met in 
February, 1777, and with the inauguration of the Governor 
the last Council of Safety went out of existence. The As- 
sembly, however, found it necessary to endow the Governor 
and his Council with the same powers that the Council of 
Safety had enjoyed, and they continued to exercise them 
until the end of the March session of the legislature, 1778.' 
The same duties were given to each Council and nearly 
the same men were chosen to fill the position, the provision 
rendering part of the members ineligible being soon dropped. 
It was better, Maryland found, to have trained and efficient 
men in a place of such responsibility and take the risk of 
their assuming undue power, than to jeopardize the province 
by trusting undisciplined hands. 

The duties of the Council, as has been seen, were simi- 
lar to those given the Councils of Safety in other 
colonies, being largely military. They were under the 
control of the conventions and reported to them. While the 
Convention was in session, it frequently imposed particular 
tasks upon them, as the erection of a powder-mill, the fitting 
out of armed ships, or the enlistment of troops." 

The movement toward independence in Maryland was 
slow, and there were always hopes in the hearts of her 
statesmen, until the last, that reconciliation might be possi- 
ble. The war did not force itself at once upon her, as it did 
upon Massachusetts, and Maryland while enlisting and or- 
ganizing her soldiers, did not feel the pressure of immediate 
occasion for their use. She sent troops to Virginia, to New 
York, and supplied her quota for the flying camp for the 
Middle Colonies, but her own soil was untouched during 
these years, and she had nothing worse to fear than the 

» Hanson's Laws of Maryland for the year 1777. Cli. 24. 
• Proceedings of the Md. Conventions, pp 63, 158, 169, 184. 



102 American Committees of Safety, 

depredations of the British ships that hung about the bay. 
It is for this reason in large measure that the Council of 
Safety seems to lack in part the energy and enterprise that 
characterized the executives of the more northern colonies, 
who were driven by necessity to extraordinary activity. One 
has further an impression in dealing with the Maryland 
Council of a lack of centralization and system. In the New 
England colonies, the central committees or councils have in 
their own hands the multifarious threads of the business of 
the military establishment and regulate and superintend the 
most minute details. In Maryland the Council did not seem 
to grasp and control the whole situation. The Province and 
its forces seem too large for it to handle and matters 
were often left at loose ends or given over to a great degree 
to others to care for. 

The Council obtained arms and ammunition for the 
militia by contracting with manufacturers and by trading 
with the French West Indies. The county committees as- 
sisted by collecting whatever public arms were in the 
Province, repairing and caring for them and delivering them 
at the Council's order."" The arms manufactured were not 
always satisfactory and the work was slow. The West India 
trade was hazardous and subject to losses. The Council 
never obtained ammunition enough. The companies that 
had been enlisted were for this reason retarded in marching 
and sometimes rendered wholly useless. When the troops- 
for the flying camp were being prepared the Council was re- 
duced to the necessity of borrowing arms from the militia 
that remained in order to furnish those that were to go. The 
step was unpopular as the counties feared to be left defense- 
less. The soldiers parted with their arms unwillingly and 
many were not afraid to interpose an absolute refusal until 
they saw the Council's money in exchange.^ 

Lack of forethought in providing for the maintenance 
of the troops after. they were once organized is noticeable. 

T Md. Archives, XI. 128, 149, 203, 209. 
• Ibid, XII. 20. 57, 80, 87, 117, 142. 



The Middle Colonies. 103 

No efficient and uniform system prevailed of supplying 
food, shelter and clothing. Sometimes the captains were 
directed by the Council to take charge of these matters, 
sometimes the county committees, again the Council under- 
took it itself. 

No one was directly or wholly responsible and the re- 

'sult was that the men were often poorly supplied and ill 

cared for. Captain Beall writes from Drumpoint : "I looked 

upon it when I came, everything must be provided for one 

part of my company It is a fact there is not house 

room for twenty men, can it be expected the men can encamp 
out among the pines without blankets or tents. Upon the 
whole I must say this company has been greatly neg- 
lected The arms that were sent to Drumpoint are 

vile trash not eight out of twenty can make any 

use of."^ Captain Kent writes in a similar strain, "we 
find there is no provision made for camp equippage, such 
as cooking utensils, etc. That no person is authorized to 
pay the men their wages, nor any provision made for get- 
ting back when relieved Many of the poor young 

men are barefooted and I am obliged to advance the money 
or leave them behind.'"" Other complaints of a like nature 
often enough filled the ears of the Council." In the latter 
part of its administration the duty of providing for the 
troops was given more and more into the hands of special 
agents. 

With the Council rested the supreme command of the 
troops, save that the Convention alone was able to order the 
militia out of the Colony. No occasion arose, however, to 
test in any way its ability to deal with an invading army. 
Occasionally British ships sailed up the bay on marauding 
expeditions, and to any point which was threatened the 
Council sent companies of militia to repel any attempt to 
land." In case of sudden attack, when it was impossible for 

• Md. Archives. XI. 452. 

10 Ibid, XI. 173. 

" Ibid, XI. 195. 224, 243, 247; XII. 133. 

" Ibid, XI. 206, 207, 209, 224 ; XII. 47, 50. 



I04 American Committees of Safety. 

the officers to consult with the Council, that body allowed 
the Brigadier-General, or if it was not possible to apply to 
him, the other field officers to direct the troops, stipulating, 
however, to be informed at the earliest possible moment, of 
their proceedings." In Kent County where no field officers 
had been appointed the County Committee of Observation 
was given this power/* 

Much reliance was placed on these local committees. 
They were elected in accordance with resolutions of the Pro- 
vincial Convention and were in close relation with the central 
government. The Council was in constant communication 
with them, directing them to collect arms, to provide cloth- 
ing, to give an account of the state of their militia, of the 
approach of the enemy, and so forth. They were the means 
ot bringing the different portions of the Province and its 
needs into touch with the Council, which trusted largely to 
their suggestions and recommendations. "You will acquaint 
us," it wrote the Baltimore Committee, ''as soon as you can 
with any measures you may think necessary for your de- 
fense that may be in our power, and we will forward them 
with all expedition.'"'' The local committees reported to the 
Council the situations which they considered most advan- 
tageous for the county troops to occupy, and the troops were 
accordingly ordered to those places. Every respect was paid 
to these suggestions. ''We think," the Council write to 
Saint Mary's Committee, "that Leonard Town is the proper 
station. Should you think otherwise, we should be glad to 
know your reasons that we may concur with you."" 

The local committees were often more enterprising than 
the central Council. This was especially true of the Balti- 
more Committee. On the occasion of an alarm, without 
waiting for authority or direction from the Council, it at 
once threw up breastworks and began to equip a schooner. 
Powder and lead were collected in a safe place, and put 

13 Md. Archives, XI. 263. 

14 Ibid, XI. 254. 

15 Ibid, XI. 208. 

16 Ibid, XI. 304. 



The Middle Colonies, 105 

under guard and the Committee appointed a commissary of 
military stores to care for and to distribute them." 

More practical than the Council it saw the impossi- 
bility of collecting arms through the county without paying 
for them, and did not even attempt it. Instead it dis- 
tributed to its agents a few hundred pounds as the most 
effective arguments of which they could make use.^^ Mr. 
Lux, one of the members said of the Committee: "I believe 
they mean to do right but it's quite necessary to keep them 
within bounds because their zeal will sometimes outstrip 
their prudence."^'* 

In Maryland, as in Pennsylvania, the Council of Safety, 
because it represented the conservative and moderate ele- 
ments, had to deal not only with the Tories as opponents, but 
with the more radical of the revolutionary party. In Penn- 
sylvania the extremists were strong enough to gain the gov- 
ernment, in Maryland they were less numerous and did 
not attempt to control the central authority but rather de- 
fied it with acts of lawlessness. 

In dealing with these offenders the Council showed a 
culpable leniency and indifference. When insubordination 
arose among the troops of Queen Anne's county and the 
militia refused to acknowledge the ofiicers appointed and 
commissioned by the Convention and Council and acted 
under others of their own election, neither Convention nor 
Council stepped forward to maintain discipline.'" 

In Baltimore this radical element was strong. Robert 
Christie, a sheriff", who, although holding a commission 
under the old system, had peaceably occupied his office under 
the protection of the new government, had been invited by 
the authorities to read the Declaration of Independence to 
the people, and had refused as he was still loyal to the King. 
This displeased some of the more hot-headed patriots, who 
served him with a notice to leave the State at once under 

IT Ibid, XI. 256, 257. 

i» Ibid, XII. 708. 

i» Ibid. XI. 322. 

2» Ibid, XI. 487; XII. 287. 



io6 American Committees of Safety. 

peril of death. He was refused permission to remain till 
morning but obliged to take horse at eleven o'clock at night. 
Christie reported the matter to the Council, with the names 
of the chief offenders, some of whom were militia officers. 
No attempt was made by the Council to reinstate or to com- 
pensate him. A letter was written the Baltimore Committee 
asking it to point out any person disobeying the laws of 
the State in a way to endanger it, but no further steps were 
taken.'' 

Similar illegal notices were served on suspected inhabi- 
tants of Annapolis, and so fearless were the law breakers 
that the name of one of their leaders was signed on the 
cards, and they were distributed in person by another." If 
any authority was to be preserved to the government, if the 
lives of innocent citizens were not to depend on the selfish 
caprice of a mob, the offenders should have been dealt with 
at once and firmly. The signer of the cards and his assistant 
were arrested by order of the Council, brought before it and 
confessed their guilt. Instead of receiving any punishment 
or even being put under bonds to keep the peace, they were 
dismissed without reprimand on a mere verbal promise to 
keep the law in future.'^ If the quick severity which the sit- 
uation demanded had been exercised and the violators of the 
law made to feel that license was no more tolerable under 
the new government than the old, the excesses of the Whig 
Club and its imitators would never have disturbed the Pro- 
vince and its Assembly in the following months. 

The treatment of the Tories by the Council was as mild 
as their treatment of the radicals, but more justifiable, as the 
former never seriously threatened the existence and authori- 
ty of the government. The county committees were apt to 
hastily seize upon men whose only fault was disloyal words, 
or a known sympathy with the English, and send them to 
the Council for trial. It was wiser not to rouse, by undue 

^ Md. Archives, XII. 517, 526, 536. 

" Ibid, XII. 539. 

" Ibid, XII. pp 547, 548, 560. 



The Middle Colonies. 107 

harshness, a quiet disaffection into armed opposition, and 
the Council again and again dismissed these suspects on 
their giving security for future good behavior. The con- 
servative attitude of the new government, the loyalty and 
respect which Governor Eden commanded, and the remote- 
ness of the enemy made the Tory problem in Maryland com- 
paratively unimportant. The Council's treatment of Gov- 
ernor Eden, when suspicions were thrown upon him, is 
characteristic of its position. 

General Lee came into possession of letters directed 
to Governor Eden, which praised him for his loyalty 
and carried the King's wish that he should co-operate with 
the British fleet. Lee sent the letters, not as he should have 
done, to the Maryland Council of Safety, but to the Baltimore 
Committee of Observation with the suggestion that Eden be 
at once seized. The letters were forwarded by this Commit- 
tee to the Continental Congress together with an anonymous 
letter written by Purviance, the Chairman, in which the 
Council of Safety was charged with timidity, inactivity and 
want of spirit. Purviance then, without consulting his Com- 
mittee, prepared to seize the Governor. The Continental Con- 
gress read the letters, and passed a resolution recommend- 
ing the Council of Safety to follow Lee's suggestion. This 
the Council refused to do, holding that over a purely internal 
matter the Congress had no control. Instead, a deputation 
was sent to Eden to ask for his parole not to leave the Pro- 
vince. The Governor refused, on the ground that he could 
not consent to make himself a prisoner while acting in any 
degree as executive of the Province. He, however, assured 
the Council that he had no intention of leaving the Colony, 
and with this assurance it was content. 

The plot of Purviance to seize Eden failed, but the 
Council came to a knowledge of the attempt and of the letter 
which he had sent to Congress. Its indignation was 
thoroughly aroused. ''We consider," it wrote its dele- 
gates in Congress, "the authority of the whole province 



io8 American Committees of Safety. 

trampled upon and insulted." Purviance was called before 
it and examined for the "high and dangerous offense" of 
assuming the supreme executive power. The Council did not 
wish to pronounce final sentence on account of the magnitude 
of the case, and he was therefore bound over to appear be- 
fore the next Convention. That body, while approving the 
conduct of the Council, laid the blame rather on Lee than 
Purviance, and in consideration of the latter's previous ser- 
vice in the cause dismissed him with a reprimand. Public 
policy demanded, however, that the Governor should leave 
the Province. The Convention therefore signified to him 
that he was at full liberty to depart, and Eden accepted the 
hint." 

There is no doubt that the Council adopted the wiser 
policy in relation to the Governor. He was still nominally 
the chief executive, the civil officers held their commissions 
from him, and a majority in the Colony looked to him as 
their permanent head. His relations with the new provin- 
cial government had been of a friendly character, and he had 
labored steadily for conciliation. To have seized and dis- 
placed him would have been a betrayal of confidence, an un- 
necessary outrage to those who respected and loved him, 
and would have brought needless confusion into the afifairs 
of the Province. As it was he took his leave after an afifec- 
tionate farewell to the Council of Safety, attended to his 
barge with every mark of afifection and respect.'' Few other 
governors in that troubled time could testify to a similar 
experience. 

William Eddis, one of the royal officials in Maryland, 
speaks repeatedly of the wisdom and moderation with which 
the Council of Safety conducted itself.""^ The self re- 
straint which enabled men endowed with such extensive 
powers to keep their hands free from tyranny and from petty 
cruelty is worthy of admiration. 

'* Md. Archives, 315-390. Proceedings of Md. Conventions, pp 143, 
144, 150, 151. 

25 Eddis Letters, 313. 

" Ibid, 271, 280, 283, 287, 306, etc. 



The Middle Colonies. 109 

Chancellor Hanson writing from personal knowledge of 
the period and of the Council, said: ''Such an administra- 
tion, the immediate offspring of necessity, might have been 
reasonably expected to be subversive of that liberty which it 
was intended to secure. But in the course of more than two 
years during which it was cheerfully submitted to by all ex- 
cept the advocates for British usurpation, not a single person 
fell a victim to the oppression of their irregular govern- 
ment."" 

" Hanson's Laws of Md. Introduction. 



no American Committees of Safety, 



CHAPTER III.— THE SOUTHERN COLONIES. 



1 . Virginia. 



July, 1775, saw the Governor of Virginia a fugitive 
and the members of the Assembly met as a Provincial Con- 
vention to raise and embody an armed force to defend the 
Province. The flight of the Governor left the Colony with- 
out an executive head and the Convention therefore ap- 
pointed, on the sixteenth of August, a Committee of Safety 
of eleven members to continue until its next session/ 

It was to carry into execution all ordinances and 
resolutions of the Convention, to grant commissions to all 
provincial military officers, to appoint commissaries, pay- 
masters and contractors and to provide for the troops. It 
was to issue warrants on the Treasurer to supply these 
agents with money and pay them for their services and to 
settle such incidental expenses as arose in connection with 
the military establishment. All public war stores were to be 
in its charge. The Committee, moreover, was made Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the forces of the Province, and every 
officer, to the highest, was obliged to swear obedience to it. 

If sufficient danger threatened the Colony before the 
troops which the Convention had determined upon could be 
raised and organized, the Committee might call upon the 
volunteer companies which had already sprung up through 
the Colony, to take the field. 

The Committee was directed to keep a journal and lay 
the account of its proceedings before the Convention for 
inspection. Its members were exempt from enlistment* and 
could hold no military office. A complete break with the 
royal government v/as insisted upon, since no member of the 

^ Amer. Archives, 4th Series, III. 384. 
» Amer. Archives, 4th Series, III. 407. 



The Southern Colonies, m 

Committee might fill any position of profit under the Crown. 
Fifteen shillings a day (which a later Convention reduced to 
ten) was the compensation allowed the members/ 

By other acts of this Convention an appeal to the Com- 
mittee of Safety was allowed any officer from the decision of 
a court-martial, and no sentence of death given in such a 
court could be executed until the Committee of Safety had 
given its approval.* _^ 

The Convention adjourned till the first of December, 
leaving the Committee of Safety in charge. At the begin- 
ning of the next session, the Committee was continued, and 
on December i6th, a new one appointed of the same size, to 
sit until the Convention's next session. The same powers 
that the former body had enjoyed were given it, and others 
added. Any person found aiding the enemy was liable to be 
seized and imprisoned, and his estates confiscated by the 
Committee, unless the latter saw fit to pardon him. Three 
men were appointed to act as a Court of Admiralty, and in 
all cases where the ship and cargo were condemned appeal 
was allowed to the Committee of Safety. It was, moreover, 
directed to commission five members from each of the county 
committees to have jurisdiction over all persons suspected 
of enmity to the State. It was to hear appeals from their 
decisions and its sentence was to be final. If a slave was 
taken in arms against the Colony or in possession of the 
enemy through his own choice, he could be sent by the 
Committee to any of the French or Spanish West Indies to 
be exchanged for war stores. If circumstances rendered his 
transportation inconvenient it could employ him in any way 
for the public service.'*. Those inhabitants who refused to 
take up arms in the American cause, provided they had com- 
mitted no act of hostility or enmity, might leave the Colony, 
under a license from the Committee of Safety." 

* Ordinance of the Convention, Amer. Archives, 4th Series, III. 418, 
et seq. 

* Amer. Archives, 4th Series, III. 406, 418. / 

* Ordinance of the Convention. Amer. Archives, 4th Series, IV. ^^ 
148, et seq. 

« Amer. Archives, 4th Series, IV. 90. 



112 American Committees oj Safety, 

The last Provincial Convention, the body that framed 
the new constitution of Virginia, came together in May, 
1776. It revived the Committee of Safety, whose term ex- 
pired with its meeting, and continued it until its own dissolu- 
tion on July 5th/ 

Although the Assembly under the constitution was not 
to convene until fall, the Convention elected the Governor 
and Privy Council to take charge of the State till then and 
usher in the new regime. The need for the Committee of 
Safety therefore, was taken away, and it passed out of ex- 
istence with the Convention. 

The functions of the Virginia Committee were, in 
brief, to commission the officers, to command the troops, to 
appoint agents to equip and feed them, to pay the military 
expenses of the State, to imprison its hostile inhabitants, to 
hear appeals from the Admiralty Court, from the County 
Courts of Inquiry and from Courts Martial. 
^ Its powers were extensive, controlling the military, 

and to a large extent the financial resources of the Colony, 
but during its administration no danger threatened Vir- 
ginia sufficient to test the stability of its authority or its 
capacity to deal with a crisis. Its work during the year 
in which it was the executive of the Colony, consisted merely 
in organizing the militia, in providing it with necessaries 
and in sending troops to retaliate upon the irritating in- 
cursions of Lord Dunmore. The greater part of the inhabi- 
tants were Whigs and the orders of the Committee were ful- 
filled without friction. Virginia was not, like New Jersey 
or Pennsylvania, the scene of a conquering army, and the 
problems that their Committees had to face were not pre- 
sented. Neither was it at any time obliged to assume the 
whole authority of the State. The Convention was in session 
during much of the year, and directed the Committee in 
various ways. Even during its adjournments it was still in 
existence and could always be brought together if sufficient 

T Ibid, VI. 1543. 



The Southern Colonies, 113 

danger threatened. The Committee of Virginia therefore 
occupied a less responsible position than the Councils of 
Safety of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or of Vermont. 

The Committee led a busy if not a stirring life. The 
actual work of procuring arms, accoutrements and provi- 
sions was largely in the care of commissaries and contrac- 
tors chosen by it, but they were under the direction of the 
Committee and responsible to it, and every disbursement that 
was necessary to satisfy the wants of the troops, even the 
most minute, passed through its hands.' 

Conservative and radical elements clashed in Virginia 
as in Pennsylvania. The disagreement was not sufficient to 
overthrow the existing regime, but centering, as it did, 
around prominent personalities, brought with it sufficient 
bitterness. Patrick Henry, the leader of the radicals, had 
been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Virginia army 
by the Convention. At the head of the Committee of Safety 
was Edmund Pendleton one of the foremost conservatives. 
It would seem, that Henry was, as a matter of fact, a better 
orator than general. At all events his military capacity was 
distrusted to such an extent by the Committee of Safety that 
Colonel Woodford, a subordinate, but more experienced 
officer was detailed by it to command the expedition 
against Lord Dunmore. Opportunity for military achieve- 
ment was rare in Virginia then and Henry felt the task 
should have been his. He resented the fact that Woodford 
reported directly to the Committee and not to him and final- 
ly, when the Committee ordered Henry to prepare for win- 
ter quarters, it seemed it was purposely refusing him any 
opportunity of an engagement before the Virginia troops 
should be taken into the Continental army, when he would 
be deprived of chief command. Henry never forgot the 
treatment accorded him, nor did his friends. When he re- 
signed his commission in March, 1776, ready tongues in- 
sinuated that the envy of the Committee had sought to un- 

8 For an account of its proceedings see Journal of the Com. of 
Safety, Calendar Va. State Papers, VIII. p 75-239. 



1 14 American Committees of Safety. 

dermine his reputation and force him to the step. Support- 
ers of the government hastened to clear the Committee from 
blame. The factional contest reappeared later in the con- 
test over the election of the President of the Virginia Con- 
vention/ and the question was discussed at large in the 
pages of the Virginia Gazette.'" 

Little judicial duty fell to the Committee. As has been 
seen the first trial of suspects rested with the judges ap- 
pointed from the county committees and commissioned by 
the Committee of Safety and cases of appeal were only 
rarely brought before the latter." 

The greater part of the counties were well affected to 
the American cause but Princess Anne and Norfolk con- 
tained many Tories who lent aid to Lord Dunmore and gave 
intelligence of the plans of the Americans. These districts 
were sometimes ravaged by parties from the British fleet in 
search of provisions and the Committee of Safety, at the 
suggestion of General Lee, determined upon the extraordi- 
nary measure of removing the population of the two counties 
into the interior to keep the friendly inhabitants from harm, 
and to prevent the Tories from communicating with the 
fleet. An order to this effect was issued April 10, 1776. AH 
inhabitants, whether friendly or hostile, that resided between 
the shore and the American posts, were directed to remove 
at once to the interior. To compel them to go, their live 
stock and slaves were to be seized by the army and rede- 
livered only when they had complied with the order. All 
those in any part of the two counties who had previously 
joined the British side or taken oath to support it were to 
move at least thirty miles away from the shore, and, to en- 
force submission, the slaves of all suspected of belonging to 
this class were to be taken and to be returned only at the 
order of the Committee, when the owners were settled in 

• Pendleton received the election, 

lo Wirt, Patrick Henry, I. p 333, et seq. American Archives, 4th 
Series. IV. 1519. Virginia Gazette, Mar. 15, 1776. Grigsby, The Vir- 
ginia Convention of 1776. 

" Col. Va. St. Papers, VIII. 159, 186, 199. 



The Southern Colonies. 115 

some secure place. Three men were appointed to superin- 
tend the matter and £1000 was to be advanced to them to 
pay the expenses. All who were willing to provide dwell- 
ings for the emigrants were requested to give notice in the 
Virginia Gazette.''' 

It is difficult to justify a proceeding so arbitrary and so 
productive of needless suffering. Its apologists have 
claimed that, though harsh, it was rendered necessary by the 
danger of the time. This does not seem probable, for Lord 
Dunmore had not shown himself able to gain any ground in 
Virginia or to deal the Americans any effective blow. The 
Committee may have feared the approach of Howe's fleet 
and army, but there was no certainty of their coming." No 
serious danger threatened and it seems an absurdity, in spite 
of the grave assertions of the Committee, to depopulate the 
counties to protect them from marauding expeditions and to 
prevent the Tories from furnishing the fleet with supplies. 
It was reasonably certain that in leaving and losing their 
houses and land and their business, in subjecting their live 
stock and slaves to the uncertainty they must encounter be- 
fore they were recovered and in removing to a strange part 
of the Colony the inhabitants would suffer more loss, dis- 
comfort and distress than it was possible to receive from the 
enemy's guns. As for the Tories it would seem far less trou- 
ble to keep so vigilant a guard that communication with the 
ships would be impossible than to attempt the task of trans- 
porting them all into the interior. It is a striking illustration 
of the despotic character of the revolutionary governments 
and of the folly into which their excessive fear of the British 
arms and their inexperience in government led them. -^ 

Steps were soon taken to enforce the order and Colonel 
Woodford was directed to take general charge of the re- 
moval, and to deal with the people as humanely as possible." 
Woodford complied and set about his task.'" This h.\g\v- 

i» Spark's Revolutionary Correspondence. II. 488. 

1=5 Girardin, Virginia, IV. 144. 

1* Lee's instructions to Woodford. Girardin, Virginia. IV. 143. 

» Ibid, IV. 144. 



ii6 American Committees of Safety, 

handed interference with persons and property aroused 
inevitable opposition and a petition was sent to the Com- 
mittee from Princess Anne County setting forth the 
distress that would ensue if the order was fully execut- 
ed. It was therefore reconsidered and modified to 
some extent. Six men were appointed to find out 
those in the two counties who had taken active 
part in behalf of the American cause, those who had 
remained quietly neutral, and those who had appeared in op- 
position. The commanding officer at Suffolk or vicinity was 
to allow the friends and neutrals to remain unmolested, but 
to send into the interior all live stock not necessary for their 
subsistence. Those who had committed themselves against 
the cause were still forced to remove with their families and 
effects." 

The Convention met early in May and the conditions 
were altered again. Besides the Tories, the friendly inhabi- 
tants within certain sections were ordered to leave because 
of the particular danger of their situation. The rest were 
free to remain, unless the commander of the neighboring 
troops, on urgent necessity, saw fit to remove them. The ex- 
penses of the American sympathizers were to be paid by the 
public, those of the disaffected from the sale of their es- 
tates." 

It was found, however, that the people of the two coun- 
ties were in distress for want of food, and on May i6, a re- 
solution was passed by the Convention permitting the men of 
the Whig party to remain and care for their crops, but oblig- 
ing: the removal of their families, slaves and live stock.'"" 
There was little probability of this order being carried out. 
It took from the farmers the important service of their cattle 
and slaves. It involved the separation of families and placed 
the support of the women and children on the government. 
Having conceded so much, it is not surprising to find the 

i« Col. of Va. St. Papers, VIII. 166, 168. 
" Girardin, Virginia, IV. 144. 
58 Girardin, Virginia, IV. 147. 



The Soiiiltern Colonies, 117 

convention a fortnight later rescinding the order for re- 
moval entirely, as far as it related to friends.'^ The Tories 
were still compelled to leave. 

In the absence of evidence to the contrary it is reason- 
able to assume that the orders against the Whigs may not 
have been rigidly enforced, and that they may have suffered 
comparatively little. They were few in number and the fre- 
quent issue of directions concerning them, show that some at 
least must have remamed in their homes throughout. Be- 
tween April 10 and May 3, the officers probably waited to 
know the result of the petition. From May 3 to May 11, 
when the first order of the Convention was passed, the Whigs 
were under the protection given by the Council. There re- 
mained then only the time from the eleventh to the twenty- 
eighth when the order was repealed, when they were in any 
considerable danger, and during that period influence was 
probably busy to secure delay, mitigation and at length the 
total repeal of the obnoxious measure. 

The Tories probably suft'ered considerably. Lee writes 
from Suffolk, on April 23, that he is busy clearing the coun- 
try of them'" and an overseer of the poor, in the county of 
Norfolk, speaks of the removal of a great many of the inhab- 
itants with their families and goods.''' The confiscation of 
their estates made their departure profitable to the govern- 
ment and it was therefore not likely to be stopped. The 
sufferings of the Tories darken the pages of our revolution- 
ary history. Men dreaded the power of their numbers, 
their wealth and their influence, and fear was quick to devise 
harsh measures. However successful its work along other 
lines, the Virginia committee, in ordering the removal of the 
Tories from Princess Anne and Norfolk Counties, must 
stand condemned both for want of judgment and of hu- 
manity. 

" Amer. Archives, 4th Series, VI. 1540. 

*> Sparli's Revolutionary Correspondence, II. 493. 

" Amer. Archives, 4th Series, VI. 1520. 



ii8 American Committees of Safety, 



2. North Carolina. 



Of the two Carolinas the northern was less favored with 
the attention and care of the mother country. The affection 
and gratitude felt by her people toward England was much 
slighter than that which bound South Carolina ; and neglect 
bred in them a self-reliance and independencce that brought 
confidence of success when they joined the Revolution. 
Moreover the Governor of North Carolina and the Assembly 
were in conflict just previous to the war/ and the leaders of 
the latter at the first signals of general opposition broke away 
from the government, in relief at the prospect of having 
their own way, unhampered by the representative of the 
Crown. The ideas and principles of the Revolution found 
quick sympathy in North Carolina, and joined to their local 
troubles, won the people to the common cause. Provincial 
Congresses were called and in spite of the denunciations of 
the Governor, the administration passed into their hands. 

Rendered powerless in his civil capacity, with no mili- 
tary protection, deprived even of the few cannon he had 
gathered for his defense, and feeling, with good reason, that 
his position was insecure, the Governor, in the summer of 
1775, took refuge in the King's sloop of war, the "Cruizer," 
that was anchored in the Cape Fear river. The Congress 
thereupon shifted the blame for the situation upon his help- 
less shoulders, declaring that he had refused to exercise the 
functions of his office and abandoned his Province without 
occasion.' Having thus justified themselves, with a remin- 

1 The quarrel had risen chiefly over the question whether forei.?n 
attachments, that , is, the seizure of the goods of an absent debtor, "to ' 
compel appearance, should be allowed in the Colony. Tlie Governor, 
following instructions from England, refused to consent to the measurf^, 
which the Assembly was determined should become law. The Governor, 
at length, tired of the obstinacy of the legislature, refused to call It 
together. See Transition of N. C. from Colony to Commonwealth, by E 
W. Sikes. 

2 Col. Rec. of N. C, X. p 174. 



The SotUhern Colonies, 119 

iscence perhaps, of the British Parhament and James II., the 
Congress created a temporary executive of its own. 

There already existed in the Province, town and county 
committees which had been in active operation since their 
appointment in the fall of 1774, as Committees of Inquiry and 
Correspondence. These committees regulated the affairs of 
their districts and treated harshly any who dared raise a 
voice in opposition.^ This system of committees was too 
well rooted and too useful to be abolished, but their excesses 
had displeased many of the moderate Whigs and it was de- 
cided to bring them, if possible, under greater control." 

On September 9, 1775, a graded system of committees 
was established to serve as the Colony's executive, in place of 
Governor Martin and the royal officials. A Provincial 
Council of thirteen members was elected by ballot in the 
Congress, two named by the members from each of the six 
districts and one by the Congress as a whole. This Council 
in the recess of the legislature was to issue to the officers 
their certificates of appointment, which were to take the place 
of commissions. The militia officers that were chosen by 
the people might be disallowed in the Council, to prevent the 
choice of unsuitable persons. Any vacancies among the of- 
ficers were to be filled at the Council's appointment. It was 
to have the direction, regulation and maintenance of the 
army, and the whole mihtary establishment, subject only to 
the control of the Congress. It might suspend any officer 
and order a court-martial whose sentence was to be final un- 
less otherwise decided by the Congress. Finally, it was 
given discretionary power to do everything it judged neces- 
sary for the security and defense of the Province, provided 
this did not involve the alteration or suspension of any act of 
the legislature. To render its power effective it was author- 
ized to draw on the treasury for any sum necessary for the 
public service. The members were to meet but once in three 

' For the proceedings of these committees, Col. Rec. of N. C, IX. 
and X. 

* Jones' Defense of the Rev. Hist, of N. C, p 199. 



I20 American Coininittees of Safety, 

months, unless circumstances compelled more frequent ses- 
sions. Ten shillings a day were allowed them for expenses. 
Any vacancy in the Council in the recess of Congress was 
to be filled by vote of the Committee of Safety of the district 
in which the vacancy had occurred." The commission of this 
Board bears a close resemblance to that given by South Car- 
olina to her Council of Safety in the previous June, and it 
seems probable that it may have been modelled upon it. 

Below the Provincial Council came District Committees 
of Safety consisting of a President and twelve other mem- 
bers who were to sit quarterly in the chief towns in their 
respective districts.^ They were to be chosen by ballot in 
the Provincial Congress by the representatives of the differ- 
ent districts. Under the control of the Provincial Council 
they were to direct the militia and other forces of the Colony. 
They were to receive information and punish offenders both 
as a court of original jurisdiction and also as a court of ap- 
peal from the town and county committees."" No person 
holding a military office except in the militia could act either 
as a member of the Provincial Council or of a Committee of 
Safety. Full power was given to both bodies to compel 
debtors, who were suspected of being about to leave the 
province with debts unpaid, to give security to their credit- 
ors, or in default of this to cause the person or property of 
the delinquent to be seized and held until the creditor re- 
ceived satisfaction. The same power was given to the coun- 
ty committees in cases of twenty pounds or under. The 
Committees of Safety were further authorized to call all per- 
sons liable for public money to account and compel payment 
by imprisonment and seizure of estates.^ The power of 
both Provincial Council and Committees of Safety was to 
last during the recess of Congress and until further order 

» Col. Rec. of N. C, X. 208, et seq. 

« Namely Wilmington, Newbern. Edenton, Halifax, Hlllsborouch 
and Salisbury. Col. Rec. of N. C, X. 208. 
^ Col. Rec. of N. C, X. 208, et seq. 
8 Ibid, X. 210. 



The Southern Colonies, 121 

was taken in the matter by that body. Their proceedings 
were to be laid before it for inspection.** 

Finally came the Town and County Committees. In 
each county the freeholders were to elect yearly a committee 
of twenty-one as a County Committee. In the three largest 
towns in the province, Edenton, Newbern and Wilmington, 
Town Committees of fifteen were to be chosen. In the small- 
er towns, which had the right of representation in the Pro- 
vincial Congress, committees of seven were to be chosen. 
Permission was given these Town and County Committees 
to act together if they saw fit. The Committees were to exe- 
cute within their precincts all orders and resolutions of the 
Continental and Provincial Congresses and of their district 
Committees of Safety. Each Town and County Committee 
might make such regulations for its own section as it saw 
fit, save that no corporal punishment, except imprisonment, 
might be inflicted. It was thus hoped that the tarrmg and 
feathering that had disgraced the Colony might be made a 
thing of the past. No person was to be allowed to com- 
mence any lawsuit without leave from the County Commit- 
tee, and no suit then pending could be continued without its 
consent. From each Town and County Committee a sub- 
committee of seven persons was to be chosen by the mem- 
bers to act as a Committee of Secrecy, Intelligence and Ob- 
servation, which was to correspond with the Provincial 
Council, the Committees of Safety, and the other commit- 
tees in North Carolina and neighboring colonies. They 
were to take up all suspected persons and if necessary send 
them to the Provincial Council or Committee of Safety .'° 

This schedule, complete and well organized as it seems, 
was in reality but a compromise and half-way measure. 
The importance of the local committees which had possession 
of the field made the Convention feel, whether rightly or 
not, that it was impossible to put at once a controlling cen- 

» Ibid, X. 210, et seq. 
>» Ibid, X. 212. 



122 American Cominittees of Safety, 

tral executive over the Province." A Council meeting but 
once in three months could not endanger the independence 
of the local committees. Moreover its duties, as far 
as specifically outlined related chiefly to the army. The 
function of the District Committees was similar, save that the 
duty of arresting and punishing delinquents was added. It 
was the Town and County Committees that were especially 
delegated to carry out the laws of the Colony, to control the 
courts, to govern and police the districts. The system dif- 
fered from that adopted by other colonies, where the provin- 
cial Council of Safety, besides caring for and directing the 
army, was intrusted with the execution of the acts of the leg- 
islature, and the county committees were used as agents, by 
the central Council, to carry the plans of the government 
mto effect in the localities. 

The Provincial Council met for the first time October 
17, 1775, a little more than a month after the adjournment 
of the Congress. It was in session but five days. It next 
came together in December and was content with a sitting of 
a week. Its third and last session began on February 28, 
1776, and ended March 5. Meeting at such considerable in- 
tervals and so soon dispersing, it was unable not only to be- 
come the leading power in the Province but it could not 
give that close personal attention to the multifarious details 
of the military establishment which characterized many of 
the other provincial Councils. Many of its duties fell of ne- 
cessity to the army officers and to the other committees, to 
the loss of a consistent and economic regulation of the 
whole. When neither Congress nor Council was in session""* 
there was no central government and the Province presented 
a condition of decentralization that boded ill if a strong 
attack should be made by the British. 

The Council employed its short sessions in making some 
provision for the troops. All the flour and pork for sale in 

^^ Jones, Defense of Revolutionary Hist, of N. C, 199. 

13 The next Provincial Congress did not meet until April 4. 1770. 



The Southern Colonies. 123 

the Province was engaged by it, and the export of pork, 
bacon, rice and peas forbidden, unless salt, arms and ammu- 
nition were brought in return." Commissioners were ap- 
pointed at the different ports to give permits for this limited 
trade." Certain of the Council chartered vessels and under- 
took the importation of ammunition, while three armed ships 
were fitted out to protect the trade.^^ Friends of the cause 
were asked to buy all the powder, saltpetre and sulphur pos- 
sible for public use and place it in the hands of the Town and 
Countv Committees." A large committee was appointed to 
purchase materials and engage workmen to make and mend 
guns. The gun carriages were repaired and the guns 
mounted.'' The Council also appointed commissaries and 
paymasters for the troops and supplied them with money." 
Although general orders were issued by the Council to 
the two continental battalions to oppose the landing of any 
hostile force, the Board was not called upon during the time 
it was in session to deal with any attack. The attempt was 
made to isolate Governor Martin completely, that, he might 
not stir up opposition to the new government among the loy- 
alists. The Committees of Wilmington and Brunswick and 
the officer of the troops at Cape Fear were recommended to 
cut off personal communication from the shore to the 
"Cruizer" and to examine all letters to the Governor. The 
Wilmington District Committee was authorized to stop the 
supply of provisions to the ship, whenever it was found ex- 
pedient.'" In a few cases the Council tried and punished To- 
ries," but they were left generally to the discretion of the local 
committees. The Council recommended that all suspects 
should be disarmed and required to take oath to oppose 
neither the Continental nor Provincial Congress, nor to aid 

i" Col. Rec. of N. C, X. 471. 

" Ibid, X. 473, 474. 

^8 Ibid, X. 288, 352, 353. 

" Ibid, X. 359. 

18 Ibid, X. 290. 355. 

i» Ibid, X. 284, 285, 287, 290, etc. 

20 Ibid, X. 350. 351. 

21 Ibid, X. 349, 359, 471. 



124 American Committees of Safety, 

the British in any way." Little attempt was made to direct 
or regulate the local committees. 

The District Committees of Safety were not active 
bodies. The Province was not large enough, nor its affairs 
complex enough to call for this additional machinery which 
the Congress had placed between the Council and the County 
Committees. They had no basis in necessity and answered 
no purpose which might not have been as well fulfilled by 
the central Council in giving directions and the county com- 
mittees in co-operating to fulfill them. As six unrelated 
bodies the Committees of Safety could not take the direction 
of the Province while the Council was not in session. The 
Town and County Committees took charge of their localities 
with no need of outside assistance. The fact that the Coun- 
cil found it necessary to order some of these District Com- 
mittees to meet is a sign they found no business ready to 
hand, that demanded their attention.^ 

The Town and County Committees on the other hand 
/ were active and energetic. The Wilmington Committee col- 
*=^iected all the guns in town, bought all the lead that the place 
afforded, to run into balls, employed a powder-maker, fur- 
nished him with saltpetre and sulphur and set another work- 
man at the task of making cartridges.^* It saw that the 
inhabitants drilled in the militia, it protected the channel by 
sinking boats, and prohibited supplies from reaching the 
"Cruizer," before the Provincial Council took order in the 
matter." Orders were given for no ship to load or to clear 
from the port without its permission or that of a higher 
power. When danger threatened, its District Committee 
was_asked for troops.'^^ It was dangerous to question its acts, 
for reflections on its proceedings or disobedience to its 
orders were punished with imprisonment, and release was 
granted only on bonds given for good behavior. Strict ac- 

22 Col. Rec. of N. C, X. 472, 476. 

M Ibid, X. 294, 362. 

2* Ibid, X. 328, 337, 348, 426. 

2» Ibid, X. 332, 335, 336. 

28 Ibid, X. 334, 337, 389. 



The Southern Colonies. 125 

count was kept of those who refused to sign the test." Its 
consent was necessary to the prosecution of a law-suit, and 
a man who had been imprisoned by a creditor without the 
Committee's permission was set free.'' In the other counties 
and towns work of a similar character went on, each putting 
its precinct into a position of defense, regulating the busi- 
ness of the courts and the affairs of the people.'' 

When danger threatened from the Scotch Highlanders 
of the back districts, who, at the command of Governor 
Martin, had gathered to the King's standard and started, on 
February 17, 1776, on their march to the coast, the Provin- 
cial Council was not in session. Neither did it see fit to 
summon its members to meet the crises, but left it to the 
local committees. The District Committees gave orders to 
their militia officers to march, the County Committees co- 
operated,'" and at the battle of Moore's Creek, February 27, 
1776, the force of the Highlanders was completely broken. 
The Provincial Council met the next day and participated 
in the affair only so far as to offer to the troops a vote of 
thanks.'' 

The fourth Provincial Congress which met at the call 
of the Council in April, 1776, struggled to form a new 
constitution, but the conservatives and radicals differed so 
strongly over the provisions of the instrument that the mat- 
ter was postponed until fall. The Congress contented itself 
with remedying the faults in the system already in existence. 
The District Committees of Safety were dropped. In place 
of the Provincial Council a Council of Safety was created 
of the same size and chosen in the same way as its prede- 
cessor. It was, however, to be a more permanent body, to 
sit from "day to day" from the adjournment of the present 
Congress to the meeting of the next. The members were 

" Ibid, X. 410, 411, 418, 427. 

2" Ibid, X. 262. 

2» The Committee of Surry county undertaltes the suppression of 
all immorality and vice, all kinds of sporting, gaming, betting and 
wagering. Col. Rec. of N. C, X. 251. 

50 Col. Rec. of N. C, X. 440, 444, 465. 

31 Ibid, X. 475. 



126 American Committees of Safety, 

allowed twenty shillings, "proclamation money," for their 
services/^ It was vested with full authority to do all acts 
necessary for the defense and protection of the Province, but 
this jurisdiction was carefully limited to exclude it from 
altering, suspending or abrogating any resolution of the 
legislature, from emitting bills of credit, from levying taxes 
or from laying duties on exports and imports, from giving 
orders on the Continental treasury (except on urgent ne- 
cessity and then for no sums over £30,000), from erecting 
any offices, or courts, from judging any civil or criminal 
offense, except where a resolution of the Congress gave 
it special permission. It could, however, examine and 
commit persons suspected of enmity to the cause and 
restrain any from leaving the Province by sea.''' Full power 
was given the Council to establish Courts of Admiralty at 
Edenton, Newbern, Bath and Wilmington and to appoint 
their judges. It was also to appoint commissioners at 
different ports to see that the continental and provincial 
restrictions on commerce were carried out. It was fur- 
ther enabled to compel all collectors of public money to ac- 
count for the same, and to see that the proper amount was 
paid to the Treasurer."* The Council was elected on May 11, 
1776; and it was directed that its votes should be taken by 
districts."' Any one considering himself aggrieved by an 
order or determination of the Council had leave to appeal 
against it to the next Congress, while the Council served 
as final judge in complaints brought against the Town and 
County Committees."' 

The Council of Safety while not sitting without inter- 
ruption, was in session the greater part of the time from 
June 6 to October 25."' It had no fixed abode, but sat at 
intervals in different parts of the Province. The arrange- 

32 Col. Rec. of N. C, X. 581. 
" Ibid, X. 280. 
" Ibid, 580, 581. 589. 
3= Ibid, X. 581, 582. 
»« Col. Rec. of N. C, X. pp 586, 587. 

" It was in session from June 5-July 16 ; July 21-August 28 ; Sep- 
tember 6-September 13 ; September 27-October 25. 



The Southern Colonies. 127 

ment was advantageous in bringing the central govern- 
ment into view of the people, but must have hampered it 
in receiving information from outside the section in which 
it was, since no one knew exactly where it was to be found."* 

The Council's work resembled that of its predecessor, 
but was much more effective. It acted as chief executive 
of the Province. Its greater permanence made it the true 
head of the State in the recess of the legislature and enabled 
its supervision to extend to matters of more detail. It 
also gave the localities greater oversight.''' It labored stead- 
ily to provide arms, ammunition and salt for the troops. 
Some supplies came in through trade, some were fur- 
nished by the Continental Congress on the Council's applica- 
tion, but North Carolina relied largely upon manufacturing 
for herself what she needed. It was a great undertaking for 
a poor colony, entering upon a struggle with a rich and 
powerful nation, to establish and encourage manufactories 
of arms, powder, salt and saltpetre. The policy, however, was 
adopted by the Provincial Congress and faithfully carried 
on by the Council, which furnished the undertakers with 
money to start their business, encouraged them with boun- 
ties and sent even to the Northern States for workmen.*" 
The promotion of these industries bore heavily upon the 
people and we find the Council enumerating it among the 
causes which had involved the Province in a load of debt 
well-nigh insupportable.'*^ 

Governor Martin did not again threaten the State with 
civil war or with British troops, and the forces of North 
Carolina only saw service during this period in assisting 
Virginia and South Carolina against the depredations of 
the enemy's ships and in putting down an Indian rising on 
the western frontier. The Council issued orders to the 
officers to aid the neighboring colonies or to subdue the 

3« Col. Rec. of N. C. X. p 825. 
3» Ibid, X. pp 641, 644. 670. 682. 693. 698. 706. 
" Col. Rec. of N. C, 620, 630, 645, 829, 877. 
" American Archives, 4th Series, VI. 1077. 



128 American Committees of Safety. 

Indians, but did not seek to control their movements fur- 
ther or to direct the campaign." 

In the fall of 1776, General Lee succeeded in antago- 
nizing the Council by arbitrary interference with the North 
Carolina troops. Lee felt that the battalions of Georgia and 
South Carolina should be completed as soon as possible and 
therefore gave authority to their officers to enlist men for 
the purpose from the regiments of North Carolina and Vir- 
ginia." This was done, and coming to the ears of the North 
Carolina Council aroused natural indignation and opposi- 
tion. The Council v/as willing to send troops to aid its 
neighbors, but not to let them completely out of its control. 
A resolution was passed condemning Lee's action, and Gen- 
eral Howe was ordered to reclaim those soldiers of the State 
that had already enlisted and remand all North Carolina 
troops then in Georgia to their own State.** 

Privateering was popular in North Carolina and the 
Council issued letters of marque and reprisal to persons 
who would undertake it, while employing arm.ed vessels for 
the State to cruise against English merchantmen.*' 

The Council freely exercised its right to try and to 
punish Tories. Some were imprisoned, some paroled within 
a certain district; others were liberated on giving bonds 
for good behavior or simply taking the oath of allegiance.** 
In spite of the prohibition of the Congress the Council as- 
sumed jurisdiction over certain criminal cases. Counter- 
feiters were abundant and were arrested and tried before 
the Council.*^ That body also took charge of the case of a 
horse and slave thief and of a man accused of assault and 
battery.** Although the Council stepped directly outside 
its legal bounds the Congress took no notice of the in- 
fringement. Probably the necessity of the time pled as 

" Col. Rec. of N. C, X. 683, 689, 827. 

« Ibid, X. 795. 

" Ibid, X. 880. 

« Ibid, X. 637. 638. 875. 877. 

" Ibid, X. 622, 627, 683, 691, 697, etc. 

" Ibid, X. 635, 638, 686, 688, 892. 

« Col. Ree. of N. C, X. 688, 689, 693. 



The Southern Colonies, 129 

excuse. In fact during the existence of both Provincial 
Council and Council of Safety the legislature did not review 
their acts, but accepted them without comment. The Coun- 
cil must have been generally satisfactory to the people, for 
there is no record of any appeal against it. 

November 12, 1776, the fifth Provincial Congress came 
together and succeeded in framing a constitution which 
vested the executive in a Governor and Council of State, 
appointed by the legislature. The Council of Safety had 
come to an end when the Congress met. To provide there- 
fore for the executive department until the first General 
Assembly, a Governor and Council were appointed by the 
Congress, by ordinance."^ 

*• Ibid, X. 1013. 



130 American Committees of Safety. 



3. South Carolina. 



The Revolution in South CaroHna was initiated by a 
minority. Its sponsors were the mechanics and artisans, the 
lesser tradesmen and the ambitious young lawyers of the 
coast. The more influential merchants opposed a movement 
that threatened to overthrow the prosperity they enjoyed, 
in spite of the Navigation Acts. South Carolina was well 
governed and had no grievance against the Crown. 
The interior, with its large population of Germans, Welsh, 
Irish, and Scotch-Irish, also held aloof. Commercial restric- 
tions did not interest them and they drank little tea. They 
held their land grants from the Crown and did not care to 
jeopardize them at the bidding of Charleston agitators. 
Moreover, the poorer interior had few dealings or little 
sympathy with the coast. The representation of the former 
had been inadequate in the General Assembly, their earnest 
petitions for law courts for their protection had not been 
granted, and they had grown accustomed to managing their 
own affairs with little regard for the low country.^ Their 
sympathy with the revolutionary movement was for some 
time of the slightest. It was fortunate for the radicals that 
the royal Governor was too timid to take advantage of his 
opportunities and that no British army was sent to the Prov- 
ince in the early part of the struggle or they must speedily 
have fallen. As it was their pathway was precarious and 
their success a matter of wonder. 

The first Provincial Congress called by a number of 
Charleston gentlemen to consider the Boston Port Bill met 
July 6, 1774. It appointed a General Committee of ninety- 
nine persons to represent them until the next meeting, to 

1 Ramsey : Revolution in S. C, Vol. I., Ch. I. McCrady : S. C. under 
Royal Government, Chapters 21. 23, 24. 28 ff. McCrady : S. C. in the 
Revolution. Simms : Hist, of S. C, p 179, et seq. 



The Sotithern Colonies. 131 

carry out their resolutions and to correspond with other 
colonies. The Congress had been controlled by the inhabi- 
tants of the city and was in no way representative of the Col- 
ony. The Committee, therefore, to remedy this obvious sec- 
tionalism, provided on its own responsibility for representa- 
tion from the upper districts,' in the following meetings. 
This representation was for a time, however, more nominal 
than real. The writs were sent to influential Whig gentle- 
men who saw that men of proper political complexion were 
returned, sometimes prominent leaders of the coast being 
elected by the interior. Moderates and radicals struggled 
for control of the conventions, and votes were bitterly de- 
bated. Delegates were sent to the Continental Congress and 
a provisional government framed for the Province. 

The news of the battle of Lexington, announcing that 
armed resistance was a fact, caused the General Committee 
to summon the Provincial Congress to meet at Charleston 
on June i, 1775, to consult upon the steps proper to be 
taken. The Congress adopted vigorous measures. An as- 
sociation was formed by which each man pledged himself 
to defend the liberty and safety of the Province with his 
life and fortune, whenever called upon. Those who refused 
to sign and accept this pledge were to be answerable before 
the General Committee.' Fifteen hundred infantry and four 
hundred and fifty horse rangers were voted, while to defray 
the expenses of the military establishment a million pounds 
of paper were to be issued to rest on no greater security 
than the enthusiasm and confidence of the people. On June 
14 a Council of Safety of thirteen members was appointed 
in which was vested supreme power over the militia and all 
military affairs. It was to grant commissions, suspend 
officers, order court-martials and do everything necessary 
to regulate and maintain the army. It was granted author- 
ity to draw on the treasury for all purposes of public 

2 McCrady : South Carolina under Royal Government, Chapters 38, 
40, 41. 

3 Amer. Archives, 4th Series, II. p 897. 



132 American CommHtees of Safety. 

service, to stamp and issue the paper money and liquidate 
and pay all public accounts against the Colony. It was 
in general to act as the executive of the new government. 
The Congress arranged for the election of its successor and 
adjourned on August 6.* 

The position of the Council was difficult. The Pro- 
vmcial Congress had adopted a policy of armed resistance : 
it remained for the Council to make the vote more than an 
expression of opinion. The army was to be enlisted and 
embodied, the people satisfied as to the expediency of the 
undertaking and the different sections of the Province 
brought into co-operation. This under more favorable cir- 
cumstances would have been no easy matter, but in the 
divided state of public opinion was peculiarly hazardous. 
It was uncertain whether the orders of the new government 
would be respected or scorned. Many no doubt shared 
the opinion of a certain Charles Webb, that these men were 
a set of "Mechanical, Ignorant Rascals, and that they con- 
sisted of Butchers, Tailors and Cobblers."' Moreover, the 
Council itself was far from a unit. The royal Governor, 
newly arrived, was a guest of one of the members. Con- 
servatives and radicals were represented m such nearly 
equal numbers that it was unable to put forward a settled 
policy, but presented a vacilating attitude, calculated to 
bring the new government into disrepute. The more mod- 
erate looked with dislike on any measure that threatened 
to bring open war. They considered themselves a forlorn 
hope and did business with the cheerful feeling that a hal- 
ter was tightening around their necks.^ Resistance being 
decided upon it was no time to dwell on consequences, and 
those who drew back from the struggle impeded and weak- 
ened the whole Council. 

But this was not the only difficulty. The Indians were 
an important factor and their friendship must be gained 

* Drayton's Memoirs, Vol. I. p 255. 
^ Moultrie's Memoirs, Vol. I. p 66. 
^ Moultrie's Memoirs, Vol. I. p 74. 



The Southern Colonies. 133 

and kept, if possible, in spite of the efforts of Governor 
Campbell and his agents to attach them to the British. More- 
over, the fortifications of the Colony were in the hands of 
the enemy, and ammunition and other war stores were lack- 
ing to the insurgents. 

Owing to the pressure of business the Council began 
its meetings as early as June 16, and at once commissioned 
the officers which Congress had appointed for the troops.^ 
It was proposed at first to issue the commissions in regular 
form under seal, but to the majority of the Council this 
savored too much of independence and certificates of ap- 
pointment were substituted.^ Orders were given for a 
part of the troops to be enlisted and a contract made to sup- 
ply them with provisions.'' A supply of powder was impera- 
tive. The Secret Committee had already taken the first step 
to this end and showed the way. This Committee had been 
appointed the preceding January and had been directed to 
''procure and distribute such articles as the present insecure 
state of the interior parts of this Colony renders necessary, 
for the better defense and security of the good people of 
those parts, and other necessary purposes.'' Behind this 
vague wording was hidden a purpose well understood by the 
members, the seizure, namely, of the public military stores, 
an object that the Committee undertook and accomplished 
sucessfully without loss of time.'° The same Committee 
now entered into another venture, without the knowledge 
or authority of the Council of Safety, to procure a larger 
supply. Two captains with forty men were dispatched to 
Georgia to lie in wait for an English ship laden with pow- 
der, known to be bound for that Province. The two captains 
co-operated with the leaders in Georgia, equipped a schoon- 
er, captured the English vessel and took seven thousand 
pounds of powder." This adventure being at length dis- 

T Col. of the S. C. Hist. Society, Vol. II. p 22, et seq. 

• Drayton's Memoirs, Vol. I. p 265. 

• Col. of S. C. Hist. Soc, Vol. II. pp 25, 26, 27. 
1° Drayton's Memoirs, I. p 221, et seq. 

" Ibid, 271. 



134 American Comntittees of Safety. 

closed to the Council of Safety, it was much pleased, and a 
portion of the powder was forwarded to aid the insurgents 
at the north." 

The Council then adopted a similar policy, though not 
without opposition from the more timid members. A sloop 
was fitted out and Captain Lempreire put in command. He 
was ordered to sail to the island of New Providence and 
seize all the powder that he might find there." Before he 
could accomplish his quest, he received orders from the 
Council to give his attention first to the capture of a vessel 
from London, freighted with powder, which would put in 
at Saint Augustine." Lempreire complied, the ship was 
found, and being ignorant of the commencement of hostili- 
ties, easily overpowered. Seventeen thousand pounds of 
gun-powder were taken from her.'" Some ammunition was 
obtained without violence. The Council contracted with a 
manufacturer for five hundred pounds, and encouragement 
was offered to importers of war stores." 

The Council wished to know and to control whatever 
military supplies the Colony afforded. The Secret Commit- 
tee therefore was ordered to buy up all the ball and shot 
in Charleston, and was further directed to examine and 
make return of the number and condition of all public arms 
and put those that were injured in repair." The officers 
provided for the further equipment of the militia, at public 
expense.'^ 

12 Col. of the S. C. Hist. Society, II. p 40. 

13 Ibid, II. p 62. 

" This order caused Henry Laurens, President of the Council, much 
uneasiness, and he sent a letter of his own to Lempriere, 
explaining that the honorable gentlemen of the Coucll of Safety had 
been too anxious to get to bed that night to properly consider tlie in- 
structions sent him. Now that they were safely on their pillows be 
took the liberty of desiring that Lempriere negotiate first for the sale 
of the gunpowder, instead of tailing it by violence, au act of war. Lem- 
priere with these double orders probably let circumstances guide his ac- 
tion, and seizure proving easy took that means. S. C. Hist, and Gen. 
Mag., Vol. I. pp 66, 67. 

15 Drayton's Memoirs, Vol. I. p 305. Moultrie's Memoirs, Vol I. 
pp 78. 79. 

i« Col. of the S. C. Hist. Soc, Vol. II. pp 26, 35. 

" Ibid, Vol. II. pp 54, 57. 

" Ibid, Vol. II. p 29. 



The Southern Colonies. '35 

The presence of the British men-of-war in Charleston 
harbor caused great apprehension among the inhabitants, 
and their sUghtest movement spread the report that an at- _ 
tack was imminent. It was necessary, therefore to provide 
defenses for the town. Fort Johnson, commanding the en- 
trance to the harbor, had been evacuated by the loyahs s 
and occupied bv order of the Council of Safety, September 
.. but further than this the Council as a whole was 
unwilling to go. The conservatives insisted on postpone- 
ment and delay, and all that could be accomplished was a 
vote that Dorchester be fortified as an asylum m case 
Charleston should be attacked and taken.=» Little was done 
even in pursuance of this resolution except to provide a 
powder magazine." . 

The General Committee" tried to rouse the Council 
and pressed on it the obvious necessity of the defense 
of the Colony's chief city. The only result was the mount- 
ing of a few cannon. The Committee persevered and the 
Council at length agreed to give the city some protection, 
in order, as one of its members publicly declared, to make 
possible some terms of capitulation when the ships saw fit 
to turn their guns on the place.'' The work went no further 
than the repairing of a platform or two. In September the 
Committee again came forward with a plan to erect bat- 
teries at salient points and thus force the King's ships from 
the harbor. The Council finally agreed, Henry Laurens 
giving the casting vote, but directly after the meeting one 
of its number was busy circulating a petition that the 
project be abandoned, as it would needlessly molest the Brit- 
ish and bring destruction on the town. The signatures seem 
to have been obtained by unfair means, and many signers 

» Moultrie's Memoirs, Vol. I. P 86, et seti. 
■• Col of S. C. Hist. Society, Vol. II. P 81. 

; ?SJ'commSe°"Siii'°coMin'ufl'in existence although its place 
23 Drayton's Memoirs, Vol. I. p 320. 



136 American Coinmittees of Safety. 

came and asked that their names be struck off, but it was 
gladly accepted by the Council as a sufficient excuse for let- 
ting the whole matter drop.""* 

The Council realized that it did not represent the 
wishes of a united people, that the frontier looked on sul- 
lenly at the changes on the coast and had lifted no hand 
to aid in them. It was necessary to gain, if possible, the 
leaders in these districts to the Whig side, before they were 
secured by the Governor, and to explain to the rank and 
file the motives of the policy of resistance. 

Attempts were made from time to time to bring promi- 
nent and influential residents of the interior to declare them- 
selves for the American party, and two Germans were sent 
by the Council to win over their countrymen.''" These ef- 
forts proved fruitless and at length William H. Drayton, a 
member of the Council of Safety, and the Rev. William 
Tennant were sent to explain the merits of the American 
position to the back districts, and impress them with the ne- 
cessity of union. As protection against the possible ill-will 
of the inhabitants they were authorized to call on the militia 
for support.''^ It was found impossible to accomplish their 
mission by argument, entreaty or threat. The people would 
hear nothing of a movement in which all might be lost and 
little could be gained, and looked with suspicion on the 
emissaries of the rebellion.'" Instead of acquiescence the 
delegates were met with armed resistance and it was not 
until the insurgents had seen the muskets of the Whig militia 
which Drayton at once called into service that they con- 
sented to come to terms and the necessity of bloodshed was 
avoided. 

The Council, unwilling as usual to trust to vigorous 
measures, had written Drayton to discharge his militia as 

" Gibbes : Documentary Hist, of the Rev. p 200. Drayton's Me- 
moirs, Vol. II. p 55, et seq. 

25 Col. of the S. C. Hist. Society, II. p. 31. 

" Ibid, II. p 54. Salley, Orangeburg County, p 404. 

^ Drayton's Memoirs, II. p. 325, et seq. Amer. Archives, 4th 
Series, III. pp 214, 622. Salley, Orangeburg County, p 282, et seq. 



The Southern Colonies, 137 

soon as possible. It hesitated to give him sufficient pow- 
ers to make an effective stand against the Tories, and to 
make a treaty. He only obtained these powers by a vote of 
four to three, and it was probable if the treaty had not been 
speedily completed that they would have been rescinded/' 
The Tories in the treaty signed September 16, 1775, prom- 
ised not to aid the British in any way, but were not forced 
to sign the Association and so kept a position of neutrality. ^^ 
The Indians were early a subject of solicitude. It was 
important to gain them, lest British influence bring on the 
terrors of an Indian war. A talk for the Catawbas was 
given by the President of the Council to two of their run- 
ners who had come to the coast to find the cause of the pres- 
ent commotion. They were told of the rapacity of the 
Great King who now demanded four deerskins of his people 
for goods formerly sold for two, and if this were submitted 
to, the inevitable rise in price it would occasion 
in the goods the Indians bought from the colonists.^" 
Drayton in his tour met a delegation of the Cher- 
okees, made them presents and exhorted them to keep 
friendship with the Americans." He further promised that 
ammunition should be sent them for their hunting, and on 
his return the Council forwarded to them a thousand weight 
of powder. This was captured by Patrick Cunningham and 
his followers. Cunningham was one of the back country 
Tories who had been angered at the arrest of his brother by 
the new government." The story was spread that the 
Council was rousing the Indians to fall upon the Non-Asso- 
ciators, and was supplying them with powder for the purpose. 
In spite of the authoritative denial of this absurd story by 
the next Provincial Congress,^' it found ready credence, 
both sides armed and a civil war seemed again near. But 
the important leaders of the loyalists did not take part 

28 Drayton's Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 396, et seq. 

2» Gibbes: Doc. Hist, p 186. 

30 Col. of the S. C. Hist. Society, II. p. 32. 

31 Drayton's Memoirs. I. p. 407. 

3- Affidavit of Moses Cotter, Moultrie's Memoirs, I. p. 97. 
33 Gibbes Doc. Hist., p. 210. 



138 American Committees oj Safety, 

in this rising. Its forces were poorly organized and 
bound in no firm union. They were the first to ask for 
terms before they had measured strength with their oppo- 
nents, and hostilities ceased with the agreement that all pub- 
lic difficulties be submitted to the late Governor Campbell 
and to the Council of Safety/* Colonel Richardson, who 
commanded a separate division of the Whig forces, refused 
to consider himself bound by this agreement and pressed on 
through the interior making prisoners of the leaders of the 
disaffected and sending them to Charleston. Many were in- 
fluenced to deliver up their arms on the promise of receiving 
protection. In this way the last sparks of the insurrection 
were trodden out.^' Nothing came of the proposed confer- 
ence between Governor Campbell and the Council. 

The Council was obliged to direct the forces of the 
interior from a distance and experienced all the inconven- 
ience which such separation entailed. It was obliged to 
issue orders in general terms and leave much to the discre- 
tion of the officers. Correspondence was necessary to keep 
Council and army in touch, and time was wasted and move- 
ments delayed while expresses traveled the road to Charles- 
ton and back. 

The discipline of the army suffered from the weakness 
of the provincial government, which had to meet the law- 
lessness that the overthrow of established authority entails. 
The volunteer regiments in Charleston refused obedience 
for a time to a proclamation of the Council, subjecting them 
to martial law.'" The rangers commanded by Colonel Thom- 
son demanded from the Council a change in the terms under 
which they had enlisted, on the ground that the supplying 
their own food had proved distasteful and they desired the 
Province to assume the expense. The Council wisely re- 
turned a determined refusal, fearing that the petition, 
if granted, would lead to greater demands. The Charles- 
si Gibbes Doc. Hist., p. 214. 
35 Drayton's Memoirs, II. p. 126, et seq. 
3« McCrady, S. C. in tlae Rev., p. 62, et seq. 



The Southern Colonies, 139 

ton militia drew no pay, while the rangers received 
twenty pounds a month. There was, therefore, no reason 
for dissatisfaction, and discipline required that the terms on 
which the enlistment had been made should be kept. Dray- 
ton was at length able to content the troops by promising 
that the labor of seeking food should be lessened as far as 
possible by encouraging persons to bring in and sell provis- 
ions in the camp," On another occasion Colonel Moultrie of 
the Second South Carolina regiment wrote to question the 
right of the Council to grant a subordinate officer leave of 
absence, and the Council was obliged to insist on obedience 
in this matter and to justify its action by reference to the 
powers it received from the Provincial Congress.^^ 

Captain Kirkland coming to prefer the side of the Tories 
resigned his commission and disbanded his company, tell- 
ing them the cause in which they had enlisted was bad, and 
advising them all to return home.'""* Nor did Kirkland's in- 
terference in the camp stop here. He had a long private 
conversation with a Captain Polk, with the result that that 
commander left the army as well. He was ordered by his 
superior officer to bring to the camp the powder that had 
been left in Fort Charlotte. He refused to obey and dis- 
charged his troops, claiming that as their commander he 
would not sacrifice them to "any Council of Safety's parad- 
ing orders." He was ready to go, he said, if there were any 
necessity, but it appeared to him that there was none, and 
he would not undertake it. Soon after he left the camp 
with his company. How eftective any campaign could be 
made when inferior officers made themselves judges of the 
advisability of movements is easily seen.*" 

Nor was this Committee wdiolly successful in dealing 
with that very necessary but rather unreliable portion of 
the governmental machine, the local committee. In Octo- 

3T Correspondence of Col. Thomson and Council of Safety, Salley, 
Orangeburg County, p 408, et seq. 

38 S. C. Hist, and Gen. Magazine, Vol. I. p 94. 

3» Ibid, Vol. I. p 69. 

40 S. C. Hist, and Gen. Mag., Vol. I., No. 1, pp. 69, 70. Polk soon 
repented, however, returned, and was again given a command. 



140 American Committees of Safety, 

ber, 1775, the Committee of the township of Saxe Gotha 
saw fit to detain the powder sent by the Council to the Cher- 
okees on the ground that the members had heard that the 
frontiersmen would not let it pass. Henry Laurens at once 
ordered them to release the powder, in a letter full of indig- 
nant protest. "The affairs of the colony," he wrote, ''must 
be reduced to a precarious situation, when such information 

is to supersede the orders of those who are authorized 

and required to do everything which shall seem to them ex- 
pedient for the defense of the colony. How do 

you think public business can be conducted if the orders 
of men properly authorized and who devote their whole time 
to public service without fee or reward are to be thus in- 
terrupted and impeded? Public business cannot be 

conducted with benefit if we are to account for our 

motives and proceedings to every man in the colony."" 

On another occasion the Council fatally wounded the 
sensibilities of the Committee of Little River. It appears 
that this Committee desired that a certain Daniel Robbins 
be advertised as a public enem.y. Robbins had refused to 
appear before the Committee to answer to the charges 
against him and had been referred by it to the Council 
of Safety. Much to the Committee's surprise the Council 
had cleared him. The Committee, therefore, feeling that 
such disregard of its opinion must render it ''despicable" 
in the eyes of Robbins, who seems to have regarded its 
dignity all too lightly, determined that as a body it should 
no longer live to be thus insulted, and with much dignity 
informed the Council of Safety that it would act no 
more in that capacity. These incidents, petty as they 
seem, show the obstacles that constantly impeded the at- 
tempt to make the central government effective in the lo- 
calities. The Provincial Congress called by the General 
Committee met on November i, and took the Province from 
the Council's hands. The journals of its proceedings were 

" S. C. Hist, and Gen. Magazine, Vol. Ill, p. 77, et seq. 



The Southern Colonies, 141 

inspected and it was itself resolved into a committee to ad- 
just and settle all outstanding accounts against the State." 

The Congress, while experiencing moments of vacilla- 
tion, displayed more courage and activity than the Council. 
A stand was finally made against the fleet, two passages 
of the harbor were blocked and the officers at Fort Johnson 
ordered to oppose with force any British ship attempting to 
go by their post."' November 16, a new Council of Safety 
was appointed of thirteen men, many of the members being 
the same men that had previously filled the position. The 
powers of the General Committee and of the Parish and 
District Committees were at the same time revived and con- 
tinued." 

The duties of this second Council were definitely de- 
fined and limited, since the Congress did not wish the vig- 
orous measures it had taken during the session to be tam- 
pered with. It was considered, moreover, imperative to 
bring a greater degree of order and responsibility into the 
government.*' The Council was given power to direct, 
regulate and maintain the land and sea forces, but was to be 
always subject to the control of the Provincial Congress. 
It might appoint all officers except generals, and fill va- 
cancies in the army and navy and in the treasury depart- 
ment. Any officer might be suspended by it, but a court- 
martial for his trial must be ordered within forty days. Offi- 
cers might be removed by the Council after a just inquiry 
had been made into the complaints against them. No money 
was to issue from the treasury except by the Council's or- 
ders. A general authority to do everything necessary for 
securing, strengthening and defending the Colony was given, 
but restricted by the provision that no act or resolution of 
the Provincial Congress might be dispensed with on that 
account. The delegates of the Colony to the Continental 
Congress were added to the Council, while all persons hold- 

*^ Amer. Archives, 4th Series, IV, p. 29. 

" Ibid. IV. p 45. 

" Ibid. IV. p 56-70. 

<5 Drayton's Memoirs, II., p. 83. 



142 American Committees of Safety. 

mg military commissions were debarred from a seat therein. 
Vacancies were to be filled by the General Committee. The 
Council was to continue until the end of the next session of 
the Provincial Congress." Drayton says of this appoint- 
ment: ''Men now, with well-founded hopes, looked for- 
ward to happy results, as the orbit in which the Council was 
to move, was extensively and clearly defined ; and as they 
were prohibited from infringing the strong measures, which 
the Congress had brought into action."*^ The statement is 
a suggestive commentary upon the career of the preceding 
Council. The war was now well under way in the north, 
and the southern colonies having pledged themselves to 
share the fate or fortune of the whole, knew there was no 
drawing back. 

The second Council of Safety of South Carolina was 
inspired with this feeling and acted with decision. The local 
committees were repeatedly ordered to prevent infringe- 
ments of the Continental Association, even if it were neces- 
'sary to sink the ships.*^ Georgia was urged and scolded 
into similar compliance and troops were sent to help her 
patriot party against the Tory majority."* Fortifications 
were erected, the British depredations checked and the cap- 
tain of the British ship informed that unless the fugitive 
slaves he protected were released no provisions would be al- 
lowed him from the shore.^^ Sullivan's island, long a refuge 
for the negroes, was taken and defended, and its command- 
ing officer ordered to open fire on any British ship that at- 
tempted to approach. ^^ War stores were imported by the 
Council from the West Indies and seamen for the navy 
were sought for as far as New England.^- The militia were 

*« Amer. Archives, 4th Series, IV., p 68. 

^'^ Drayton's Memoirs, II., p 116. 

*8 Col. of the S. C. Hist. Society, III, p. 146. 

"9 Ibid, III, pp 82:135. Drayton's Memoirs, II, p 228. 

o" Collections of the S. C. Hist. Soc, III, pp 75, 84, 89, 94. 

" Ibid, III, pp 157, 168. 

52 Ibid, III, pp. 131, 199, 213. 



The Southern Colonies, H3 

embodied or dismissed as occasion dictated and were con- 
centrated at Charleston, where an attack was feared/'-' 

One important duty of the Council was to pay the ac- 
counts against the State. It was found that this took so 
much time from its administrative work that the Provin- 
cial Congress allowed it to set apart two days of the 
week at which time and no other these bills could be set- 
tled." 

Those delinquents that refused obedience to the author- 
ity of Congress or Council, or those whose influence among 
the disaffected made them objects of suspicion were dealt 
with by the General Committee and by the local and Parish 
Committees, not by the Council of Safety, as was so often 
the case elsewhere. Still the Council occasionally arrested 
at its discretion persons who were deemed injurious to the 
Colony.'' The prisoners sent down by Colonel Richardson 
were humanely treated by the Council. Many were dis- 
charged on a confession of error and promise of future good 
behavior.^'^ The proceedings of the court martials which the 
Council ordered were submitted to it for approval and it 
often interfered to mitigate the severity of the sentences." 

The Provincial Congress met February, 1776, and de- 
termined to create an organized government. South Caro- 
lina was free from the pressure of war, the opposition of 
the interior was silenced and it was therefore possible for 
her to take time to quietly frame a new constitution. The 
Council of Safety, together with the President of the Pro- 
vincial Congress and two prominent military officers were 
appointed a committee to consider the expediency of the 
change.'' Their report was favorable and a new constitu- 
tion was framed, and adopted March 26, which vested^ the 
government in a General Assembly, Legislative Council, a 

" Ibid, III, p 169, et seq. 

5* Amer. Archives, 4th Series, V, p 574. 

53 Col. of the S. C. Hist. Soc, pp. 72, 89, 124. 

" Ibid, III, p 176, 185. ^ ^_ ^^^ 

57 Col. of the S. C. Hist. Soc, III, pp 138, 244, 245. 

" Amer. Archives, 4th Series, V, p 567. 



144 American Committees of Safety, 

President, Vice-President, and Privy Council/'' The Provin- 
cial Congress did not step aside to await the results of a new 
election but declared itself to be the General Assembly 
until the following October. A Legislative Council was 
chosen from its number and the two houses voted for the 
President, Vice-President, and Privy Council."" The new 
system went at once into operation and the Council of Safe- 
ty passed out of existence. 

" Amer. Archives, 4th Series, V, p 611 
«o Ibid, 4tb Series, V, p 615. 



The Southern Colonies, i45 



4. Georgia. 



The weakness of Georgia, with her meager population 
and scanty resources, made it seem impossible that the Revo- 
lution could find or keep a foothold there. The movement 
was opposed or viewed with indifference by a majority of 
the people. The few leaders of the revolutionary party met 
however and sought to communicate their enthusiasm to the 
rest of the Colony. Savannah became naturally the center 
of the movement, and meetings of American sympathizers 
were frequent there. At one of these gatherings, on June 
i8; 1775, a Council of Safety of sixteen prominent citizens 
was appointed to see that the Non-Importation and Exporta- 
tion agreement was carried into effect.' 

The following month the second Provincial Congress 
of Georgia came together, and joined in the common cause 
by resolving to carry out the measures recommended by 
the Continental Congress and to adhere to the Continental 
Association. The Council of Safety appointed at the Savan- 
nah meeting was recognized and given authority in various 
matters, although there was no definite enumeration of its 
powers. The Congress voted that in its recess the Com- 
mittee might issue certificates to the amount of i 10,000. All 
such certificates were to be signed by the Treasurer and at 
least three of the Committee. Besides this important finan- 
cial power the Council was to propose on any emergency 
such measures to the Continental delegates as would best 
serve the public good. It might also call the Provincial Con- 
gress together before the time appointed.' 

Just previous to its adjournment the Congress ordered 
that the delegates from the town and district of Savannah 
with such other representatives as happened to be in the city 

1 Stevens' Hist, of Georgia, H, 101. 

» Amer. Archives, 4th Series, II, 15ol, 1553. 



146 American Committees of Safety, 

during the recess should be a General Committee for the 
Province, to superintend, direct and advise the parochial 
and district committees. To this committee also was given 
the power to call the Congress to an extra session if it 
saw fit.^ 

It is uncertain what position the Council of Safety was 
intended to occcupy or what its relation to this General 
Committee was to be. It was not directed to carry on the 
affairs of the Province in the recess of the legislature or to 
execute its resolutions. Yet it seems impossible that a board 
given such authority in issuing money, and directing the 
policy of the Colony in the Continental Congress by advis- 
ing its delegates should be created merely for these two pur- 
poses. These were powers which properly belonged to a 
committee intended to take charge of the government, and 
it may be that the Provincial Congress of Georgia con- 
sidered that function to be understood to belong to the 
name, "Committee of Safety/' so that no further definition 
was needed.* The form of the General Committee might 
seem to make it a better representative of the Congress in its 
recess than the Council. But the fact that its duty 
was definitely assigned to it and no mention made of such 
function is a strong objection to this view. Loose delega- 
tion of powers was characteristic of all the transitional gov- 
ernments. As the Council of Safety, as a matter of fact, 
did assume the chief place in the Province, it is reasonable 
to suppose this to have been the intention of the Congress. 

A Council of Safety was appointed at the November 
session of the legislature and from then until April 1776, the 
government, in the recess of the legislature rested in its 
hands.'' 

As usual, the people having determined on resistance 
wished first to wrench away the chief weapon of the royal 

' American Archives, 4th Series, II, 1553. 

* At this time Committees of Safety were in operation In Massa- 
chusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. 
5 Stevens' Georgia, II, 126. 



The Southern Colonies. 147 

provincial government and gain control of the militia. 
August 8, the Council of Safety applied to Governor 
Wright to allow the militia companies to choose their own 
officers on the ground that those then acting were disagree- 
able to the men/ The Governor refused a request so de- 
structive of military discipline, but he was unable to make 
his prohibition respected. The soldiers met and, disregard- 
ing their former officers, elected members of the patriot party 
to take their place. Commissions were issued to the new of- 
ficers by the Council of Safety and the military force of the 
Colony was brought into definite dependence upon the revo- 
lutionary government. 

The situation of Georgia was a difficult one. The Gov- 
ernor and Council and many of the wealthy planters were 
opposed to the movement. The Colony depended for pros- 
perity on trade, and to cut this off entirely by enforcing the 
Non-Exportation and Importation Acts seemed suicidal. 
Danger threatened from marauding bands of the English 
from Florida, the sea-coast offered an attack for the British 
fleet, and the Indians in the back counties, deprived of their 
supplies by the interruption of commerce, were ill-tempered 
and promised trouble. 

The Council of Safety determined to strike quickly and 
'deprive the Tories of their leaders by securing the Governor 
and his Council. The arrival early in January, 1776, of 
three British ships with soldiers gave an occasion. The 
Council of Safety at once ordered the arrest of Governor 
and Council. Any citizens who refused to promise that 
they would refrain from aiding the enemy were to be dis- 
armed.' The order does not seem to have been carried out 
in full but the Governor was surprised and easily taken. 
He was kept a prisoner in his own house until he made his 
escape to the King's ships. The provincial government was 
probably not ill-pleased to learn of his flight, since his pres- 

8 Stevens' Georgia. II, 134. 

T Stevens' Georgia, II, 127, 128. 



148 American Committees of Safety, 

ence in the Province conld never have been anything but a 
disturbing influence. 

Georgia did not have within her borders arms and war 
stores sufficient to equip her soldiers and it was imperative 
to obtain them by trade. The Council of Safety therefore 
released from the Non-Exportation and Importation Agree- 
ment for nine months all ships trading with the produce of 
the Colony for saltpetre, sulphur, brass field pieces, or mus- 
kets. Three of its number were chosen to act as a Com- 
mittee of Supplies, and were to see particularly that the 
Colony was furnished with a certain number of arms and a 
certain amount of powder, balls, and shot.^ 

In every other respect the Council was determined to 
enforce the commercial restrictions in spite of the opposition 
of the planters. The prohibition placed on exports by the 
Continental Congress having expired March, 1776, the 
Council of Safety continued it in Georgia, forbidding any 
ship, except those which were to procure war stores, to load 
with rice or other product of the Colony or to sail without 
the permission of the Council or the next Congress. To 
render disobedience impossible the ships then in the port of 
Savannah were to be dismantled.^ 

The Council was not strong enough to enforce obe- 
dience to this order, and therefore applied to South Carolina 
for aid. That Colony had for some time interested itself in 
impressing on Georgia the necessity of complying rigidly 
with congressional regulations and had observed how fre- 
quently they were violated. Colonel Bull had been already 
dispatched with militia to see that, with the concurrence of 
the Georgia authorities, the embargo there was made effect- 
ual. It was now possible to make the act appear as an 
answer to the request of the weaker colony.'" Bull consult- 
ed with the Council on his arrival and at its desire posted 
guards in Savannah and its vicinity. The Council desired 

8. Ibid, II, 130. 

• Hist. Collections of Georgia, p 90. 

10 Orders to Colonel Bull. Drayton's Memoirs, II, 228. 



The Southern Colonies, 149 

him to undertake the work of unrigging the ships, but Bull 
declined. It would make a better impression through the 
country if Georgia did the work herself, he said, and seemed 
not to depend on outside assistance. The Tories were al- 
ready claiming that Carolina had taken possession of Savan- 
nah and meant to keep it. Nothing should be done there- 
fore to give color to this assertion. The Georgia Council 
therefore sent its own militia and accomplished the work, 
while Bull stood ready to aid it at a moment's warning." 

At this time a few British ships of war were in the har- 
bor, threatening an attack in order to secure provisions. Not 
knowing how far the strength and desire of the enemy could 
carry them the Council determined to give them but a bar- 
ren victory. It was resolved if it was found impossible to 
hold the town and its shipping from the British that both 
should be burned and wholly destroyed." The houses and 
ships of those friendly to the cause were appraised in order 
that the delegates of the Province' in the Continental Con- 
gress might apply to that body to indemnify the owners. 
Those who refused to support the American cause or who 
abandoned the city in its time of danger were to be denied 
this privilege.^^ 

The event gave little occasion for these drastic meas- 
ures. The British were received on board certain merchant 
ships in the bay and the attempt made by the provincials, 
under the direction of the Council of Safety, to dislodge 
them led to the burning of the vessels and the precipitate 
flight of the enemy." 

In April, 1776, the Provincial Convention determined 
on a better organization of the government and a clearer 
definition of the powers of its officers. A President was 
accordingly constituted to have the highest executive and 
military authority. He was to be assisted by a Council of 

" Letters of Colonel Bull, Mar. 15, 1776. Drayton's Memoirs, II, 
pp 212, 234, et seq. 

" Hist. Collections of Georgia, p 88. 
" Ibid, p 87, 90. 
** Ibid, p 88, 89. 



150 American Committees of Safety. 

Safety of thirteen persons together with the five delegates to 
the Continental Congress, which was to act as his privy 
council and whose advice he was bound to ask and to fol- 
low." The Council was thus placed as a check upon 
any attempt at irresponsible power. It is probable, how- 
ever, that there was little friction between the President and 
his advisers, and that the management of affairs rested al- 
most entirely and without question with the former. The 
person elected to the office was Archibald Bullock, a man 
respected and trusted in Georgia in the same way that Gov- 
ernor Trumbull was respected and trusted in Connecticut. 
This is further confirmed by the fact that when, at one time, 
the Province was in fear of a British attack and it was im- 
possible to collect the whole number of the Council of Safety, 
as soon as was desirable, that body, by its own act, requested 
the President to take upon himself the whole executive 
power of the government, permitting him to call to his 
assistance any five persons whom he chose, whenever a 
sufficient number of the Council of Safety could not be 
convened. ^^ 

The provision for the government made by the Con- 
vention in April was intended to be only temporary and to 
serve until a new and complete constitution could be adopt- 
ed. This was accomplished by February, 1777. The ex- 
ecutive power was placed in a Governor and an Executive 
Council. On the adjournment of the Convention the 
Council of Safety was left to carry this government in- 
to effect. Archibald Bullock had died and the Council 
therefore elected Button Gwinnett as President to serve 
until the legislature should meet and choose a Governor un- 
der the Constitution." 

The Assembly met in May, 1777, and elected a Gov- 
ernor and Executive Council. The books and papers of the 
Council of Safety were given into their charge, and its exis- 
tence came to an end. 

" Ibid, p. 97. 

>" Stevens' Georgia, II, 155. 

" Ibid, p. 300. 



CHAPTER IV. 

GENERAL VIEW OF THE CHARACTER AND 

WORK OF THE COMMITTEES OF SAFETY. 

In studying the Committees of Safety' the question 
arise how far thev were an irresponsible executwe aWe to 
acrindeplndently and to govern the people w.tho^,t check, 
or i responsibility existed, through what agency :t was en- 
for ed The Committees were usually given w>de and m- 
Xt authority; they were to carry on '^^ ^^^J— 

rslLion'srio^unds to their activity, and whatever they 

determined upon, ^^ ^ ;°--,raf:tr:^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

;i:af ag^:: it X:Tad b'eL to iJstif y an arbitrary and 

^'^^^^helfcircumstances seem to give *e C— es of 
Safetv unusual freedom as an executive. But there were 
othe facts of their creation and organization that so far 

m JlWn them an irresponsible P-^tion W^^^ 
an even undesirable dependence upon the legislature, i ney 
were chosen bv the Provincial Convention and at ^^ort inter- 
vals Their brief term of service made it -P-^M<= j^= 
tern o carry out any plans that did not meet with the ap- 
form or carry ^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^„y attempt to cut 

r^selvts 100^^- that watchful and jealous body. 

Hampshire's Committee of |Jgty, 
South Carolina's Council of Safety. 



152 American Committees of Safety, 

Their frequent dissolutions prevented them from becoming 
a permanent body with interests and ambitions apart from 
the legislature, and an ability to maintain an independence 
of it. The Congress possessed an absolute power over the 
life of the Committees. It could dissolve them at any time 
and strike them completely from the system of government. 
It could alter their power and confine it within as narrow a 
compass as it chose. No Committee was certain that the 
authority it enjoyed would be continued. Neither could it 
tell whether its own acts would be allowed to stand, since the 
legislature was able to suspend or abrogate any decree or 
order it issued. 

There was at this time no written constitution to pro- 
tect the executive from the omnipotence of the legislative 
power. The former had nothing on which to rely to justify 
an independence of action, no assured field of activity where 
it could conduct affairs in its own way. The merging of 
all departments and the placing of all authority in the state 
in the Provincial Congress made it alone the center of 
m.en's interests and ambition. The members of the Com- 
mittee were first members of the legislature and their 
new ofiice did not deprive them of their seats. Their ideas 
and desires therefore, would be in sympathy with the ma- 
jority that had chosen them, and having helped to frame the 
laws they would seek merely to carry them out in accord- 
ance with the wishes of the rest of the legislature. For 
these reasons, the Committees of Safety were dominated by 
the Congress and showed throughout their existence a 
strong sense of their dependence upon it. That the latter so 
rarely criticised their actions, and so often dispensed with 
reading their minutes, is evidence that the Committees per- 
formed their duties in harmony with the wishes of the parent 
body. 

Another important set of circumstances further limited 
the Committee's power. It was obliged to rely upon the 
local county and town committees to carry out its meas- 



General View of the Character and Work. 153 

ures, for there were no state officials to whom it could give 
its orders and whom it could call to account for disobe- 
dience. Instead it was obliged to trust the good-will and 
fidelity of these semi-independent boards which it was im- 
possible to coerce to obedience. These county committees 
were elected by the people, at the recommendation of the 
Provincial Congress. But the central government had no 
means of enforcing authority over them. They occupied in 
fact, much the position that the separate colonies held to- 
wara the Continental Congress. These county committees 
called variously, Commitees of Safety, of Inquiry, and of 
Inspection, were tenacious of their local supremacy and 
stood as a complete barrier against any attempt at centraliza- 
tion which must precede any practical exercise of independ- 
ence in a central executive. The local committees, as a 
whole, did in general co-operate with the Congress and 
Committee of Safety and made it possible for the revolution- 
ary machinery of government, disconnected and unusable 
as it became at times to finally accomplish its ends. In the 
heat of common enthusiasm and patriotism the parts were 
welded for the time. If the Revolution had been merely 
the plan of a few leaders, it would have been impossible for 
it to have made headway, since voluntary co-operation was 
the source of whatever unity existed. 

It is difficult to tell in what light the Committees of 
Safety were viewed by the people as a whole. The author- 
ity to arrest, try and punish all suspects gave the Committee 
arbitrary power over the people and property of each indi- 
vidual, and those Tories who fell into its hands, hated it 
as the agent of an irresponsible tyranny; Among the 
Whigs the presence of the Committee of Safety in the gov- 
ernmental system seems tO' have given rise to little comment. 
The reason for this is probably found in the dominance of 
the Provincial Congress throughout the transition period. 
The Committee was regarded only as the agent of the legis- 
lature. It did not have that independence of jurisdiction 



154 American Committees of Safety, 

and width of individual power which would have set it dis- 
tinctly before the people as a body which touched their in- 
terests in a separate way or which ruled a separate field of 
political life. In accepting the Congress the people accepted 
its executive committees and seem to have merged them 
in approval or condemnation. 

The chief concern of the Committee was with the war 
and the colony's defense. In some cases it was Commander- 
in-chief of the militia. The position was ill-suited to so 
large a body, composed usually of civilians, although in some 
of the northern states militia officers were allowed upon the 
board. It is hard to tell how capably it filled the position. 
Lee has a sneer for the timidity of New York's Committee, 
and is exasperated at the over-caution of Virginia's. 
''Their distribution of their troops is likewise a master- 
piece" he writes. 'T wonder they did not carry it still fur- 
ther and post one or two men by way of general security in 
every individual gentleman's house.'"" The localities were 
often responsible for an injudicious scattering of the col- 
ony's forces by insisting that detachments should be sent 
them for protection. The Continental troops were outside 
the Committee's province, but their officers often consulted 
its members upon the best plan of campaign within the 
province and relied upon them to supply the troops with food 
and lodging. 

The Committees of Safety of neighboring colonies were 
in frequent correspondence. South Carolina warned and 
instructed Georgia. Virginia and Maryland concerted 
plans for common defense. Massachusetts advised New 
Hampshire. Troops were asked for and sent, ammunition 
and cannon were borrowed, the best method of making salt- 
petre was communicated, and the latest news of the progress 
of the British or of the probable destination of their fleet was 
forwarded. In this way the colonies kept in touch with 
each other, and the Committees of Safety replaced to some 

^ Spark's Revolutionary Correspondence, Vol. II, p. 485. 



General View of the Character and Work, 155 

extent the old Committees of Correspondence. They were 
too busy, however, to write except when some necessity 
urged, and no general correspondence on the state of affairs 
in the different provinces was carried on. Such matters 
were discussed in the letters that the Committees often sent 
to their delegates in the Continental Congress, telling them 
of their needs, asking their advice, and soliciting money and 
war stores, giving them usually also an account of how mat- 
ters had progressed in their absence. In return they were 
provided by Congress as far as possible with what they 
wished, and the delegates wrote them of the deliberations 
and plans of the central body, of the situation of the country 
as a whole, the strength of the British, and the victories and 
losses of the Americans. So that Philadelphia became the 
point to which all news was sent and from which it was 
again distributed. 

The requisites of a good executive are unity, secrecy 
and dispatch, and there is no time \yhen these are more im- 
peratively demanded than when the country is engaged in 
war. That a single magistrate is the most effective head 
of a government, and embodies those qualities to the highest 
degree is generally conceded. It was inevitable that the 
executive must suffer m efficiency when placed in the hands 
of a body like the Committee of Safety. It was hindered 
by its size. The Congress in its attempt to make the Com- 
mittee representative of the whole province made the mem- 
bership too large. Conservatives and radicals opposed each 
other at its sessions and prevented promptness of decision 
and quickness of execution. It was necessary to deliberate 
and compromise when action should have been taken at once. 
These facts gave rise to the charges of inaction and timidity 
which were sometimes made against the Committee, and 
were due rather to its organization and structure, than to 
the character of the men composing it. Yet so deeply rooted 
vv^as the jealousy of the colonial governor that it was im- 



156 American Committees of Safety, 

possible to expect the revolutionists to reinstate at once the 
single executive. 

The people placed on the Committee the leaders of the 
province, those men who were most active in the revolution- 
ary movement and were capable of administering affairs. 
Such men were John Hancock, Joseph Warren, Robert 
Morris, Charles Pinckney, Charles Carroll, John Dickinson, 
and Benjamin Franklin. These men gave their time and 
strength willingly to the cause and worked untiringly for 
the defense of their province. Often no pay was given 
them, often they were obliged to take depreciated paper. 
Their prominence lent them little present advantage and ex- 
posed them to a special danger if the war ended in defeat. 

The success of the Revolution is to a much larger de- 
gree than is often realized the work of these Committees. 
They were in control at a critical time. In 1775 the feeling 
of opposition to England was widespread and a wish to ap- 
peal to arms was prevalent. But it was necessary to forge 
from this intangible emotion and desire some effective 
weapon of resistance. . The Congresses might resolve to 
embody troops ; it rested with the Committee to really bring 
an army into the field, to furnish it with ammunition, to 
give it food and clothing and deliver it into the hands of 
the officers. Without the concrete activity of the Commit- 
tee of Safety the votes of the legislature would be without 
significance and the victories of Washington unknown. It 
was no easy task that the Committees undertook, as we have 
seen. They were obliged to overcome the inertia that at- 
tends the starting of any movement; to contend against in- 
credulity, fear, and discouragement until they could make 
results justify their acts. The Committee placed opposition 
on an effective basis, and the state government merely con- 
tinued the work it had begun. 

In spite of its faults the committee system worked well. 
Granted that the legislature must be the supreme and only 
power in the central government of the province, the Com- 



General View of the Character and Work. 157 

mittee of Safety was a serviceable means of getting the ex- 
ecutive duties of that body performed.^ Like the modern 
English cabinet it represented the majority in the legislature, 
not by being reformed whenever it ceased to command their 
approval, but by its frequent elections which made it pos- 
sible to leave out at those times men who had shown them- 
selves to be no longer in harmony with the stronger party. 
The members of the Committee were members of the legis- 
lature and could know its wishes and the way in which it 
desired to have them fulfilled. From their seats in the 
house also, the members of the committee could explain and 
justify any of its measures. The Congress often reviewed 
their acts and the Committees were thus responsible to it for 
what they did. If the legislature had realized the meaning 
and possibilities of this system there might have been de- 
veloped in the different states a form of government similar 
to that which England enjoys today. But the idea of the 
three departments of government acting separately and in- 
dependently, and kept from encroachments on each other by 
an ingenious system of checks and balances had deep root in 
the minds of the Americans of the eighteenth century as the 
most perfect mode of government, however they might vio- 
late it in practice. The Committees of Safety were re- 
garded merely as a temporary and abnormal expedient and 
had proved themselves in no way the superior of a single 
executive. When the time came to frame the new consti- 
tutions it was natural that the three-fold division of depart- 
ments should find place in all of them, and that a Governor 
should be placed at the head of each state. 

» The Committee of Safety was not, of course, the only executive 
of the province. The Provincial Congresses chose Committees of Supplies, 
of Inspection, etc. besides comnaittees appointed at intervals for special 
purposes. The relation between these committees and the Committees 
of Safety was not well defined and their powers sometimes conflicted, 
but the latter was looked upon as the chief executive of the province. 



158 American Committees of Safety, 



CHAPTER V. 

THE ORIGIN OF THE COMMITTEES 
OF SAFETY. 



The problem of the origin of the Committees of Safety 
is rendered somewhat complex by the fact that we are not 
considering a political institution whose characteristics are 
clearly defined by constitutional limitation or by well under- 
stood customary law. On the contrary the foregoing nar- 
rative has shown that the Committee of one province might 
differ from the Com.mittee of another, and both from the 
council of a third. Not only this but the Committees and 
Councils of the same province varied in character and finally 
the same Committee in a province might take on new powers 
in the course of its existence. This divergence of form, the 
offspring of a political necessity forced to shape the means 
at hand to ends as quickly, rather than as logically as possi- 
ble, makes the finding of a common ancestry for the Com- 
mittees more difficult. The matter may be simplified, how- 
ever, by eliminating minor differences, and by choosing 
salient features thus obtaining something which may serve 
as the typical Committee of Safety whose origin we shall 
try to trace. Thus considered, the Committee or Coun- 
cil of Safety appears as a group of men chosen by a revolu- 
tionary legislature to act as its chief executive and to take its 
place during a recess or dissolution. 

Two sets of questions arise in connection with the 
origin of the Committees: 

First. Where did the colonists get the idea of calling 
their revolutionary executive a Committee or Council of 
Safety? 



Origin of the Committees. 159 

Second. Were these Committees copies of a like insti- 
tution that had previously existed, or were they modifica- 
tions and adaptations of colonial institutions, or were they 
new devices of the colonists to meet a new situation ? 

The presence of Committees of Safety in the Puritan 
Revolution in England and the similar political situation of 
England and America in 1642 and 1775 suggests a connec- 
tion between the revolutionary expedients in government of 
the two. It was natural for the colonists to look to the 
mother country for precedent and example. The wide ex- 
tent of England's influence over her dependencies needs no 
demonstration. The colonists replanted in the new world 
her laws and institutions. Their small assemblies were par- 
liaments to them, and in their constant struggle with the 
royal governors in the eighteenth century they felt they 
were but imitating the contests of the Stuart parliaments, 
holding that in the person of their representatives they were 
entitled as freeborn Englishmen to the prerogatives to which 
the English parliament had attained. The proceedings of 
the assemblies followed a parliamentary model, and Profes- 
sor Jameson has shown that the standing committees which 
were in use outside New England were directly imitated 
from the English system.^ When, therefore, a crisis like the 
American Revolution came, the colonists would look nat- 
urally to England for justification of principle and precedent 
for action. The writers of the time are quick to liken 
George III. and Charles I., to commend their cause by 
identifying it with that of Pym and Hampden. It is prob- 
able also that American statesmen would call to mind how 
Parliament in battle against her King, and deprived of an 
executive, met the problems set by a situation so similar to 
their own. A brief study of the English Committees of 
Safety will show the likeness they bore to the American. 

The summer of 1642 brought the final parting of King 
and Parliament. Charles set up his standard and both sides 

* Origin of the Standing Committee System in American Legislative 
Bodies: J. Franklin Jameson, Polit. Sc. Quar., Vol. LX. 



i6o American Committees of Safety, 

prepared for war. To remove the discussion and forma- 
tion of plans of action from the whole legislature where 
long debates would have checked progress, Parliament ap- 
pointed committees to advise upon such matters and to 
make reports. To supply the need of executives, other com- 
mittees were chosen to perform particular commissions, or to 
take charge of a certain department. Thus there were Com- 
mittees for Quartering Soldiers, for Receiving and Answer- 
ing Dispatches, for the Counties, for Superintending the 
Collection of Money and Plate, for the Affairs of Ireland, 
for the Navy and Customs, etc.'' July 4, 1642, at the sug- 
gestion of the Commons, the Lords appointed five men and 
the Commons ten to be a Committee to take into considera- 
tion whatever concerned "the Safety of the Kingdom, the 
Defense of the Parliament, and the Preservation and Peace 
of the Kingdom, and the means of opposing any hostile 
force." The Committee was to meet as often as it pleased.* 
Its function, it is seen, was advisory in character, but unlike 
the former committees its commission embraced the over- 
sight of the whole kingdom. Like a modern ministry it was 
to suggest whatever measures seemed best for the country 
in the crisis, though it was not necessarily the agent to carry 
out these measures. Unlike a ministry this Committee 
of Safety, as it came to be called, put forth no well defined 
policy but merely suggested means of meeting needs that 
rose from day to day. It reported on measures proper to 
be taken before the adjournment of Parliament, and the 
number of committees that should be allowed to stand, with 
the power that its own Committee should have during the 
recess. It considered the means of raising soldiers and 
recommended officers including the Commander-in-chief. 
It advised Parliament on the means of getting war supplies. 
It also undertook the composition of important papers for 
the legislature, preparing at one time a Declaration for the 
Instruction of the people, and at another the heads of an 

2 Commons' Journal, Vol. II, p. 825. 
» Ibid, p. 651. 



Origin of the Committees. i6i 

address to the King. It gave directions to local commit- 
tees, and advised the disarming of the ill-affected/ The 
activity of the Committee was not concerned merely with 
giving advice. At Parliament's order it performed im- 
portant executive duties. It was not given general author- 
ity over any department, each act being done at the special 
bidding of Parliament, but the nature of the trusts it re- 
ceived raised it to the position of chief executive of the 
realm. It bought arms and ammunition and distributed 
them. It raised and forwarded troops and saw that exposed 
points were protected. It corresponded with Lord Fairfax 
and in the temporary absence of the General took charge of 
the army. It was often ordered to issue warrants on the 
treasury to pay the soldiers or satisfy some other claim 
against the state.^ In spite of its importance, the Committee 
of Safety had no control over the other executive commit- 
tees." Each was dependent directly upon Parliament. The 
Committee of the Two Kingdoms chosen February 7, 1644, 
displaced the Committee of Safety.^ 

The resemblance between the English Committee and 
the American Committees of Safety is marked. Both acted 
as the chief adviser of the legislature. Both were concerned 
in raising and distributing men and supplies, in order to put 
the territory under their supervision in a state of defense 
and maintain it there effectively. The general commission 
to act for the safety of the people as seemed best to them, 
that was characteristic of most of the American Commit- 
tees, was lacking in the authority of the first English Com- 
mittee of Safety, but was supplied in those of subsequent 
appointment, now to be considered. 

June, 1647, Parliament faced a discontented and suspi- 
cious army, which it had created but could not control, an 

■* Commons' Journal, Vol. II. pp. 651, 654, 655, 683. 703, 719, 743, 812 
905, etc. 

5 Commons' .Tonrnal. Vol. II, pp. 761, 838, 839, 902, 940. 944, 948, 967, 
1003. etc. Memorials of the Civil War. Fairfax Correspondence. 

« Of these the most important were "For Bringing in Money," "For 
Examining Prisoners," "For Ireland," "For Navy and Customs." 

" Commons" Journal, Vol. Ill, p. 391. 



1 62 American Commifiees of Safety. 

army determined to force toleration from a Presbyterian 
Parliament unwilling to grant it, and ready to march on 
London if necessary. While busy with negotiation and in- 
trigue to procure delay, Parliament prepared at the same 
time for its own defense. July ii, 1647, it chose a 
committee of twelve Lords and twenty-four Commons 
to join with a committee of the London militia, to 
care for the defense of City and Parliament and to 
suppress all insurrection and tumult. It might execute 
any plan which it thought necessary for the safety and 
defense of the kingdom, could raise horse and foot, 
and command the advice and aid of all other commit- 
tees and officers. It was to report daily to Parliament, and 
to continue in power one month." The association of this 
Parliamentary Committee with the militia was a new feature 
but this naturally grew out of the peculiar situation of Par- 
liament, dependent as it was for safety on the support of the 
militia of the city where it held its sessions. The Com- 
mittee set to work with energy, seeking officers that were 
willing to enter Parliament's service and issuing enlistment 
orders for new troops. But owing to the failure of the City 
to co-operate, its efforts were in vain. The citizens 
feared the advancing enemy, and Parliament found not only 
that no reliance could be placed on them, but that they were 
making terms with Fairfax. Parliament of necessity there- 
fore accepted the agreement by which the army consented 
to remain at Saint Albans, if the warlike preparations 
against it should cease. Parliament annulled the enlist- 
ing orders, discharged the troops already gathered, 
and brought the work of the Committee of Safety for the 
time to an end." A month later, when the threatening atti- 
tude of the army again alarmed Parliament, the Committee 

8 Commons' Joiii-nal, Vol. V, pp. 207, 208, 209. The Lords at first 
wished to give these powers to the Committee for Ireland, which had come 
to be regarded as the chief executive (Godwin, Commonwealth of Eng- 
land, Vol. II. p. 329). but at length acquiesced in the proposal of the 
Commons for a new Committee (Commons' Journal. Vol. V, p. 208). 

9 Godwin : Commonwealth of England, Vol. II, p. 345. Rushworth : 
Collections, Vol. VI. p. 557. 



Origin of the Committees, 163 

Avas revived to prepare for defense, only to yield as im- 
potently as before to the advancing forces of Fairfax that 
entered the city on August 7th. 

Twelve years passed before a Committee of Safety" was 
again used. When the Long Parliament was restored in 
1659 it appointed, on May 7th, six of its own members and 
three military officers" to be a Committee of Safety, to take 
"especial and effectual care of the Preservation of the Peace 
and Safety" of the Commonwealth. Their commission was 
to last for eight days, a time, it was thought, long enough to 
serve for the creation of a permanent Council of State.'' 
The Committee, as a whole, had charge of the army, and 
might remove and replace officers at will. It could at any 
time command the treasury.'' Those members that had 
seats in Parliament enjoyed the privilege of nominating 
candidates for the highest civil offices, including the new 
Council of State, and of settling their salaries. An enor- 
mous power of patronage was thus put in their hands.'* The 
Committee was continued from May 14 until May 23, as the 
Council of State, whose duties the Committee was active in 
framing, was not ready to sit until the latter date. It then 
yielded its place to the new executive. 

The last Committee of Safety of the Revolutionary era 
was chosen October 26, 1659, by the General Council of the 
army that had overthrown the Parliament it had helped in- 
stall a few months earlier, and had assumed control of the 
state. It consisted of twenty-three men, thirteen officers and 
ten civilians. This Committee was to be for the time the 
entire civil government, and might order what it pleased for 
the safety of the state.'' Ludlow says that the officers agreed 

10 The Committee was appointed July 30, 1647. Commons Journals. 
Vol. V. pp. 260-263. Ruslnvorth : Collections, Vol. VI. p. 653. Ranke : 
History of England, Vol. II. pp. 493, 494. 

" These were Major Gen. Lambert, Col. Desborough, and Col. Berry 
(Ludlow: Memoirs. Vol. II. p. 793). 

12 Commons' Journal. Vol. VII, pp. 646, 647. Ludlow's Memoirs, 
Vol. II. p. 79. 

" Ibid. 

1* Commons' Journal, Vol. VII, pp. 648, 659. 

15 Commons' Journal, Vol. VII, pp. 654, 658. Mercurius Politicus, 
1659-60 ; pp. 819, 827. Ranke : Hist, of Eng., Ill, p. 257. 



164 American Committees of Safety. 

to respect the commands of the Committee as long as it did 
what the army prescribed. This stipulation, whether openly 
made or not, was in accordance with the army's desire 
that the civil government should represent its v/ill alone.'" 
The Committee's power was not to be permanent. Within 
six weeks, if possible, it was to devise a suitable form of gov- 
ernment to take its place. The life of the Committee was 
brief, though extending somewhat over the time allotted. It 
was disliked and distrusted by the people as the offspring of 
military violence. It could not gain the City, and, most im- 
portant, it was unable to convince General Monk, who com- 
manded the English forces in Scotland, of the legitimacy of 
its position. Deserted at length by the very soldiers of the 
army that created it, it gave way of necessity before the 
Rump Parliament that resumed its sittings on December 26. 
The likeness of the English and American Commit- 
tees of Safety in appointment and duties is apparent 
without further comment. The Committee of 1642 is like 
the Committees of Massachusetts or Virginia. Later ones 
find their parallel in the Councils of Safety of Vermont, 
in the last appointment of New York or the third 
and fourth appomtments of Pennsylvania. It seems 
fair to say, in the absence of evidence to the con- 
trary, that the Puritan Revolution gave the Ameri- 
can colonists the name of their revolutionary executive and 
served as a partial precedent for the institution of similar 
committees. It may be objected that a too great interval sep- 
arates the English and American Revolutions for the expe- 
dients of the one to pass to the service of the other. But the 
appearance of Committees of Safety in Boston and New 
York in 1689 shows that the institution was not forgotten 
in the interim. The news of the landing of the Prince of 
Orange, brought to Boston April 4, 1689, greatly stirred the 
common people. Hope of their old charter, distrust and 
hatred of Andros made them impatient to overthrow his gov- 

^^ Ludlow's Memoirs. Vol. II, p. 131. 



Origin of the Committees. 165 

ernment The prominent and influential citizens were more 
conservative. They resolved to remain quiet until the suc- 
cess of William was assured, but if Ae people rose of their 
own accord to guide the movement.'' 

April 18, the rising took place; the people took arms 
and imprisoned the chief oflicers of the government. True 
to their agreement the prominent citizens, including many 
of the magistrates under the old charter, met at the Council 
House to act on the situation and Andros was compelled to 
surrender the government to them. They associated with 
them twenty-two of the other prominent citizens, and took 
the name of the Committee for the Safety of the People and 
Conservation of the Peace.^^ Their situation was similar to 
the Committee of Safety chosen by the army m October, 
i6SQ In both cases the previous government had been 
overthrown and the agents of the change took this means oi 
ruling the state until a better organized government was 
possible It mav have been in direct imitation of the last 
Eno-lish Committee that the Massachusetts men took their 
title but that Committee had been thoroughly discredited be- 
fore its extinction and was less liable therefore to be copied. 
It is more probable that the name was taken as a generic 
term furnished by the period for a revolutionary body of 
administrators. Chalmers says '' that the "famous name of 
a Council of Safety" was adopted in Massachusetts showing 
that the English Committees were well remembered. 

The Massachusetts Committee of Safety took entire 
charge of the government, with the understanding that it 
was to be a temporary expedient. Mr. Bradstreet was 
chosen President and Waite Winthrop Commander-in-chief. 
The Committee issued orders from time to time for the regu- 
lation of the people, and undertook, probably under popular 
pressure, the disbanding of the troops that were engaged m 

-Andros Tracts, II, HI- Life of Rev C Mather, by his son. 

England, by Nathaniel Byfield. v i t n <iS9 

19 Hutchinson : Hist, of Mass. Bay, Vol. I, p. 382. 



1 66 American Committees oj Safety. 

the unpopular task of guarding the Maine frontiers. But 
its authority was weak, and there was need of a more set- 
tled government. May 22, a Convention of the different 
towns in the Province voted to resume the old charter and 
the rule of the Committee ended.'" 

The Revolution in New York took its origin from that 
of Boston. The news of the Massachusetts rising reached 
New York on April 26, exciting the people with the dan- 
gerous example of the successful overthrow of authority. 
The government in New York wrote the ''Gentlemen in 
Power" in Massachusetts, asking the release of Andros. 
The Committee of Safety refused, replying with a justifica- 
tion of its action, and an explanation of its mode of gov- 
ernment." The Dutch were devoted to the Prince of Orange 
and were angry that Governor Nicholson delayed to ac- 
knowledge him in New York. Absurd rumors were afloat 
that the Catholics would burn the city, and that Nicholson 
had threatened to set the fire and massacre the inhabitants.'" 
A popular rising took place on the last of May, 1609, headed 
by Leisler, a German militia captain. The fort was taken 
and Leisler proclaimed that he held it for William and Mary 
until called on by them for its surrender. Nicholson aban- 
doned resistance and sailed for England to make complaint.'^ 
Leisler, in the meantime, to give his usurpation legal color, 
called a Convention from the neighboring towns. Eight 
towns beside New York were represented. In imitation of 
the Boston leaders these delegates, sixteen in number, styled 
themselves a Committee of Safety.'* Although it was the 
nominal government from June to December, the Commit- 
tee was in reality merely the obedient exponent of Leisler's 
will. He was made by it Commander of the fort and later 

20 Hutchinson : Hist, of Mass. Bay, Vol. I. Palfrey, History of New 
England, Vol. III. 

21 N. Y. Hist. Soc. Col., 1868, pp. 250-251. Hutchinson's History of 
Mass. Bay. Vol. I, p. 384-386. 

22 N. Y. Col Docs., Vol. Ill, pp. 593. 594, 640. N. Y. Hist. Soc. 
Col., p. 292. 

2SN. Y. Col. Doc, Vol. Ill, pp. 585, 595, 638, 639, 670. 
21 N. Y. Col. Doc, Vol. Ill, pp. 597, 608, 617. Wm. Smith : Hist, of 
N. Y., p. 58. 



Origin of the Committees. 167 

commissioned Commander-in-chief of the Province. De- 
cember 10, he took the title of Lieutenant-Governor, and the 
day following chose his Council from his adherents, who had 
been members of the Council of Safety, and that body disap- 
peared.^ As in the case of Boston the rising in New York 
brought the Puritan Revolution to mind. A contemporary 
wrote of the members of the new Committee of Safety that 
they were the greatest Oliverians in the government, some 
openly declaring there had been no legal king in England 
since Cromwell's days."" Colonel Bayard, one of Nichol- 
son's Council, declared the new Committee of Safety to be a 
power and authority "never suffered or exercised in any of 
the reigns of their Majesties most glorious ancestors, unless 
in time of rebellion."-' 

The name appears once more before the Revolution, in 
Vermont, in 1770. In 1764 the New Hampshire Grants, as 
Vermont was then called, passed from New Hampshire to 
New York, and the inhabitants were ordered by the latter 
Colony to take out new patents for their land. On their 
showing no disposition to obey, their land was regranted to 
patentees from New York. In 1770, suits for ejectment were 
brought by New York against settlers under grants from 
New Hampshire, and the Supreme Court at Albany refused 
as evidence the royal orders and instructions to the Governor 
of New Hampshire to grant land in that region, or the actual 
grants made to settle there."^ These settlers, finding it im- 
possible to obtain a recognition of their land titles, met in 
convention and resolved to resist the encroachments of New 
York by force. They therefore formed themselves into a 
military association with Ethan Allen as commander. Com- 
mittees of Safety were appointed by the chief towns, whose 
special duty was to resist any intrusion of New York claim- 
ants on their lands. ^" The Committees met from time to 

25 N. Y. Col. Doc, Vol. Ill, pp. 656, 676. 
2« Ibid, Vol. Ill, p. 617. 
^ Ibid, Vol. Ill, p. 643. 

=" Hiland Hall : Hist, of Vermont, chapters X and XI. 
" Ira Allen : Hist, of Vermont, p. 25. Vermont Hist. Soc. Col., 
Vol. I, p. 5. 



1 68 American CoinmUtees of Safety. 

time in convention, when some danger threatened, to consult 
upon and adopt measures for common defense. Persons 
found transgressing the resolutions of this body were 
brought before the individual Committees, tried and pun- 
ished.^" These Committees of Safety were in active opera- 
tion at the opening of the Revolution, and probably raised 
the first troops that the New Hampshire Grants furnished 
for the war.^' 

Besides English precedent the provinces had at their 
service experience of their own from colonial days. Here, 
as ever, one may safely say that the Anglo Saxon did not 
create an institution out of hand but adapted familiar ma- 
terials in its construction. 

The colonists outside New England had long been fa- 
miliar with the system of standing committees, such as the 
Committee of Elections, of Public Claims, of Religion, of 
Justice, etc. They were chosen by the Assembly and were 
responsible to it.^^ In New England the system does not 
appear except in the case of the Grand Committees or Coun- 
cils of War of Connecticut. They were appointed at inter- 
vals from 1673, included the Governor, Deputy-Governor 
and Assistants, and some of the Deputies. These were 
vested during the recess of the Assembly with power to 
raise, equip and direct the troops, and came to have nearly 
the same powers as the Assembly itself.'' Besides these 
committees, there were in all the colonies special commis- 
sions, appointed by the Assembly, for executive duties that 
constantly hemmed in the Governor's prerogative, so that 
Governor Glen of South Carolina wrote, in 1748, "Almost 
all places of profit or trust are disposed of by the General 
Assembly The executive part of the gov- 
ernment is lodged in different sets of commissioners 

»« Ira Allen : Hist, of Vermont, pp. 32, 44, 47, 49, 51. 
" Records of Gov, and Council of Vt., Vol. I, p. 33, note. 
3' Origin of the Standing Committee System in American Legislative- 
Bodies, by J. Franklin Jameson, Polit. Science Quar., Vol. IX, No. 2. 
3' Public Rec. of Conn., Vol. II, especially p. 204 and note 205. 



Origin of the Committees. 169 

The above officers/" and most of the 

commissioners are named by the General Assembly and 
responsible to them alone." ^^ These commissioners in time 
of war, took charge of the money voted by the Assembly and 
often exercised considerable control in raising and supply- 
ing troops, appointing and removing officers/'*^ The Mary- 
land Assembly declared in 1757 that its troops were to be 
under the command of no one but agents appointed by itself 
while the Assemblies of New Hampshire and Massachu- 
setts, at the same time sent their agents directly to the front 
to better direct the forces/' In the Seven Years' War the 
Rhode Island Legislattire chose a Council of War with gen- 
eral direction of military afifairs.'' In 1757 the Board of 
Trade wrote of Massachusetts that almost every act of ex- 
ecutive and legislative power, whether political, judicial or 
military was ordered and directed by votes of the General 
Court, in most cases originating in the House of Repre- 
sentatives. A similar statement was made by the same 
Board about New York in 1752.*° It will thus be seen that 
the Assemblies were no novices in performing executive du- 
ties, and that the Committees of Safety merely carried on for 
the Provincial Congresses work that these committees and 
commissions had already made familiar. 

In the years just previous to the Revolution, the discon- 
tent of the colonists found expression in the appointment of 
town, county and provincial Committees of Correspondence. 
These provincial Committees of Correspondence were in ses- 
sion during the adjournment of the legislature, and kept up 
the colonial agitation in a manner none too pleasing to the 
royal Governor. The provincial Committees were not as 

" Besides the commissioners tli^re were a treasurer, commissary, 
comptroller of duties and powder receiver. Ecclesiastical preferment was 
also in ttie hands of the Assembly. 

» S. C. Hist. Soc, Vol. II, pp. 303-304. 

" Green : The Provincial Governor. 

" Md. Archives. Vol. IX, p. 100. 

'• Mass. Prov. Laws, Vol. Ill, pp. 940, 963, quoted by Green, p. 191. 

39 R I. Col. Rec, Vol. VI. p. 146. N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VI, pp. 
363-371, 506-520. 

" Mass. Prov. Laws, Vol. IV, pp. 95-96. Chalmer's Revolt, Vol. II, 
p. 255. Quoted by Green, Provincial Governor. 



lyo American Committees of Safety. 

active as the local Committees of Correspondence but they 
corresponded with those of other provinces, and were the 
first channel of communication of the Continental Congress 
with the colonies, a place taken later by the Commit- 
tees of Safety. When war became more imminent, these 
Committees disappear as the growing multiplicity of busi- 
ness led to a division of duties among several bodies, of 
which the Committee of Safety came to be the most impor- 
tant." Such was the origin of the Committee of Safety 
from the earlier provincial committee system. 

Another source was the colonial Governor and Council,. 
Executive power was nominally in the hands of this body, 
however much it was restricted in reality by the Assembly. 
It also represented the government in the recess of the leg- 
islature. In the absence of Governor and Deputy-Governor, 
the Council performed these functions alone. The colonists 
in forming their revolutionary executive were undoubtedly 
influenced by these facts, and for this reason the name Coun- 
cil of Safety appears often, instead of Committee, it being 
held that like the former Councils it was merely taking the 
place of the Governor during his unavoidable absence. One 
further point remains to be considered. Were the Commit- 
tees of Safety spontaneous creations of each province, or 
were those of later appointment framed at the recommenda- 
tion of and in imitation of those chosen earlier, or were they,, 
finally, influenced by any suggestion of the Continental Con- 
gress? We are left without direct answer to this question. 
The commissions given the Committees are similar in char- 
acter, and it is possible that such leading colonies as Massa- 
chusetts and Pennsylvania, whose Committees were appoint- 
ed earlier, may have exercised some influence over their 
neighbors. William Drayton, a prominent member of South 
Carolina's Committee of Safety, makes the statement that 
that Colony originated the Councils of Safety." If by this he 

" Committees of Correspondence: E. D. Collins. American Histori- 
cal Association Reports, 1901, Vol. I. 

«/• Quoted in the preface of Memoirs of the Revolution, by John 
Drayton. •' 



Origin of the Committees. 171 

means that South Carohna was the first colony to have a 
body of that character, or that she devised a system copied 
by the rest, he would seem to be mistaken. Massachusetts, 
New Hampshire and Connecticut each had such an executive 
before South Carolina, and there is no evidence that those 
of the more northern colonies were framed with any refer- 
ence to that Province. In fact, the slowness and difficulty of 
communication of the times render the opposite more prob- 
able. If, however, Drayton implies only that South Caro- 
lina was the first to use the term ''Council of Safety," this 
is true, and if he means further that South Carolina's influ- 
ence may have suggested the expedient to the neighboring 
provinces, this also is very probable, considering the influ- 
ence that South Carolina exerted over these provinces 
throughout the war. 

On July 18, 1775, the Continental Congress recom- 
mended to those colonies still without them, the appointment 
of Committees of Safety to direct and superintend all mat- 
ters necessary for the security and defense of their respective 
colonies, in the recess of their Assemblies and Conventions. 
Five colonies were at that time without them, Rhode Island^ 
New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.*' In 
all these colonies Committees were soon appointed, so that 
the central government had its share in suggesting their 
formation and in giving uniformity of title. 

" Force : American Archives, 4th Series, Vol. II, p. 1885. 
*' Vermont is not included, as her separate existence was not, of 
course, recognized by Congress. 



172 Bibliography 



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The Provincial 
Committees of Safety 

of the 

American Revolution 



BY 

AGNES HUNT, Ph.D. 

Associate Professor of History, Wells College 

formerly Instructor in History, College for Women 

Western Reserve Uni'versity 



Published from the Income of 

The Francis G. Butler Publication Fund 

western reserve university 

cleveland 



LUMr u5 



